


Second Chance

by canadianpancakes



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: AI Jack, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Claptrap is annoying, Denial of Feelings, Loss of Limbs, M/M, Reverse Stockholm syndrome but not really, Slow Burn, Timothy is just a tired dad, Unhealthy Relationships, Will rhys fuck a hologram? Only time will tell, rhys hits his head a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-01-16 13:43:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18522730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadianpancakes/pseuds/canadianpancakes
Summary: Rhys thought he was done with Jack. He had pulled out his eye just to get rid of him- He had the chance to destroy it and be rid of Jack for good.But Rhys just couldn’t bring himself to destroy it.~AU in which Rhys is found passed out in the remains of Helios.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooo! This is my first time writing for Borderlands so I’m sorry if anyone is OOC or if anything is inaccurate. This is some weird AU where Rhys isn’t found by Loaderbot in the beginning of Tales and instead is found by someone else after he passes out in the rubble of Jack’s Office. Idk I came up with a scene and started writing and it all went down hill from there. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the story!

  Everything hurt.  

 Rhys knew that much for sure. 

 His head hurt- mostly the side of his head. It was a throbbing pain that led into his left eye. It felt as thought someone had stabbed him in the face. He wasn’t sure if he could still even see out of that eye. Everything was dark. 

 Rhys tried in vain to move. He attempted to wiggle his fingers but quickly realized his right arm was gone. He could move the fingers on his flesh hand, however, which was a good sign. 

 So he wasn’t dead. 

Though with the throbbing pain in his head he might _prefer_ to be dead. 

 He slowly attempted to blink open his eyes, squinting at the sudden greeting of light. He could only see out of one eye.  

 Lovely. Absolutely fantastic. 

He reached up to his left eye curiously, feeling a bandage covering it. His brow furrowed in confusion.

 He searched his mind trying to remember what had happened. Everything was foggy. He absent mindedly reached up to his throbbing temple, his fingertips grazing the spot where his port usually was. He flinched at the contact, a sting of fresh pain coursing through his head. He cursed to himself and tried to sit up. He moved his arm to his right shoulder, feeling the cloth of another bandage wrapped where his arm should have been. 

 Everything slowly came together the clearer his thoughts became. He remembered Helios. _Jack_. Helios getting destroyed. Jack _again_. 

 Rhys got a bitter taste in his mouth at the sudden reminder of what had happened. 

 So many people died. 

 But _more_ people would have died had he not done something. 

 That didn’t change the way his stomach churned at the thought of all those deaths, though.

 He remembered an argument with Jack. How Jack _complimented_ him on what he did. Had the audacity to compare Rhys to _himself_. Rhys would have done anything for a compliment like that- before Pandora. Before Jack had tried to _kill_ him. 

 Rhys reached down to for his pocket, feeling the lump of his ECHOeye. He remembered pulling it out. He remembered pulling his arm off. The pain. The _betrayal_. 

 Where was he? What had happened? 

 Rhys glanced around, quickly realizing he was in some sort of shack. He didn’t recognize it. In the corner of the room he saw a figure hunched over something, mumbling to themself. 

 “Who…?” Rhys tried to speak but his voice was hoarse. The stranger heard him though. The figure jerked around, their elbow knocking against whatever they had been working on. Rhys quickly recognized it as his missing arm. 

 “Oh! You’re awake,” The stranger said, voice muffled by a scarf pulled over their mouth and nose. Rhys noticed, too, that the voice was male. The stranger reached up to his scarf, pulling it down and revealing his face. 

 Rhys felt his heart stop, his breath caught in his throat at a face he recognized all to well. 

 “ _Jack_? But you’re-” 

 “Not Jack.” The Not Jack interrupted. Rhys took a moment to take the stranger in, noticing that he, indeed, _wasn’t_ Jack. The stranger’s hair was much longer, pulled back into a loose ponytail, his skin a bit darker and his nose dotted with freckles. He also had an eyepatch over his left eye. 

 “My name is Timothy.” The stranger ran a hand through his hair, his gaze on the floor and a bitter smile on his face. “But you’re not the first to mistake me for him.” 

 Rhys let his heart calm down, allowed himself to breath normally again. He rested his hand over his ECHOeye in his pocket.  

 Rhys’ good eye trailed to where Timothy had been working on his arm. Timothy’s eyes followed. 

 “Oh, I uh, should probably explain what happened.” Timothy said, staring at Rhys’s horribly broken metal arm. 

“I found you in the rubble of Helios. After it fell…” 

 Timothy turned back to Rhys his brow furrowed. 

 “Do you know what happened up there? I mean, you don’t have to say- it, uh, seemed like a pretty traumatizing event…” Timothy trailed off when he noticed Rhys’ expression. Rhys felt sick with the topic. Timothy had no idea just how traumatizing it was. 

 “Well… anyway. I found you passed out in the rubble of what seemed like Jack’s office. Your arm was ripped off and… your eye was gone.” He gestured to the arm. It sparked, as if on que. “I was trying to fix your arm but… it’s pretty badly damaged.” 

 Rhys let the information sink in. He had figured his arm was beyond repair when he ripped it off. Well, actually, he hadn’t been thinking much about it. It was all on impulse. He was just trying to save his ass. But he had damaged his arm pretty damn badly. 

 His ECHOeye felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket. He kept fiddling with it. His mind kept returning to Jack and what had happened between them. 

 Rhys shook his head and sighed, fingering the eye piece in his pocket. 

 “Well, for what it’s worth, thanks for helping me…” Rhys spoke quietly, closer to a mumble. His throat still hurt. Timothy smiled nonetheless, shrugging. 

 “I can try to fix your arm, but I definitely don’t have a, er, another eye laying around.” Timothy glanced around his shack and Rhys shook his head. 

 “No… don’t worry about that. You’ve… done enough.” Rhys offered a small smile. Timothy frowned at the sound of Rhys’ hoarse voice. 

 “Would you like some water?” He asked, already heading over to a satchel that was sitting on a chair. Rhys nodded, but Timothy didn’t notice. Timothy dug around in his satchel and pulled out a metal flask, holding it out for Rhys to take. Rhys gingerly took it, bringing it up to his lips and taking a sip. 

 He ended up chugging the rest of the water, frowning when there was none left. He hadn’t realized just how thirsty he had been. “Thanks,” Rhys said as he held out the now empty flask for Timothy to take back. Timothy took it with a smile, though there seemed to be something on his mind. 

 It was silent for a moment while Timothy buried the flask back in his bag. Whatever question had been bothering Timothy finally got the better of him. 

 “So how do you know Jack?” 

 Rhys blinked, registering the question. Timothy elaborated a bit more noticing the blank expression on Rhys’s face.

 “You, uh, called me ‘Jack’ earlier, he doesn’t usually let strangers call him by just that to his face. I also found you in the ruins of his office, not sure if that has any significance though…”

 In all honesty Rhys wasn’t sure what his relationship with Jack was. Rhys had trusted Jack at first. He had _believed_  in Jack. But now… he wasn’t sure. 

 “It’s… complicated.” Rhys ultimately decided to respond with. Timothy snorted. 

 “Yeah, most of Jack’s relationships were ‘complicated.’” 

 Rhys furrowed his brow in thought. His mind wondering about a lot of different things at once. Most of which involved Jack. Some involved Timothy. He was about to ask Timothy a question, but was interrupted by the door of the shack being slammed open. Rhys heard Timothy sigh at the sound. 

_“I’ve returned from my scavenging, Not-Jack! I found nothing of real use, but I did find this bowl that can work perfectly as a fashionable hat! If you’re blind or have no sense of fashion whatsoever. And want no real protection from any serious head injuries.”_ A little yellow bot rolled into the area where Rhys and Timothy were. Rhys recognized it as a Claptrap unit. Which confused Rhys even more. He had assumed Jack had gotten rid of all of the Claptrap units. 

 The Claptrap hadn’t noticed Rhys at first, too preoccupied showing off the bowl-hat he had found to Timothy. When he finally noticed Rhys though, he dropped the bowl on the ground causing a loud clang to echo through the small shack. 

_“Our prisoner has awoken, Not-Jack! Now is the perfect time to interrogate them! You be Good Cop, I’ll be Bad Cop.”_ The Claptrap turned one of his tiny hands into a fist, punching it against the other hand in an attempt to be threatening. Timothy pat him on the head, moving beside him with the bowl in his other hand. 

 “Okay, first off, he’s not our prisoner, CT. Second off, why don’t you go put your new hat with your collection. It’ll make a perfect addition I _assure_ you.” Timothy smiled down at the Claptrap with the practiced patience of a mom who dealt with similar situations a hundred times before. The Claptrap beeped with excitement, grabbing the bowl from Timothy’s hand. 

_“You are absolutely correct, Not-Jack! I will put it right beside my Music Box of Death!”_

 Claptrap happily rolled off, a little bounce in his roll, as he clutched his bowl-hat close to his chest. Rhys wondered momentarily what exactly the “Music Box of Death” was. Timothy sighed, pulling Rhys from his thoughts. 

 “Sorry about him. He’s a little…overwhelming at times.” 

 Rhys glanced to the area Claptrap had rolled off to and decided that he definitely did _not_ have the energy to deal with that. He turned back to Timothy, the action making him dizzy for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a few breaths, his head throbbing with a new wave of pain.  

 “You okay?” Timothy’s voice cut through Rhys’ thoughts. He tried to smile but it was more of a grimace. 

“I’m… fine.” Rhys managed. He took another breath then finally opened his eyes, his one good eye meeting with the concerned gaze of Timothy. Rhys realized he hadn’t given him his name yet. Well he hadn’t given him much information at all, to be fair.  

“I… I don’t think I introduced myself. My name is Rhys.” 

Timothy smiled, but his eyes still held their previous concern. 

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but…” He gestured to Rhys’ bandaged form. “I wish it were under better circumstances.” 

 Rhys gave a dry laugh at that, his eye going back to his metal arm. He was trying to think of how he would be able to attach it _if_ it was even able to be fixed. There were wires sticking out, metal pieces sticking up in ways they _shouldn’t_ be. Rhys sighed in defeat. His head hurt way too much to be thinking about that. 

 Timothy followed Rhys’ gaze to the arm, his previous smile gone. 

 “I can try to fix it. But I’m… missing a few pieces. And I have no experience with _attaching_ an arm so…” He trailed off and scratched the back of his neck. He finally sighed and looked back to Rhys. 

“But I might know a place that could help. I have a… friend. She has contacts.” 

 Rhys mused the idea over in his head. 

 “What place, exactly?” He questioned. He was hesitant. The man may have saved his life, but he was still hesitant to trust. _Especially_ after Jack. 

 Timothy pulled up an old echo device, the screen cracked and the device barely holding it together. Rhys could have sworn he saw a _bandaid_  on the corner of it. 

 Timothy typed for a moment, swiping on the screen, his eyes searching. He licked his lips and sighed. 

 “A little town called Sanctuary.” 

 


	2. Chapter 2

  “There’s a fast travel station not too far from here. It would only take a few hours to get to it on foot…” Timothy’s eyes searched the device which apparently he had been using to look at a map. He looked up after a moment and met Rhys’ stare. “We would be able to get the pieces missing on your arm and find someone who could reattach it. I, uh, don’t know about your eye, though.”    

 Rhys found himself thinking of his ECHOeye again. It just _wouldn’t_ leave his thoughts. But Rhys was so unbelievably pissed at Jack. He _really_ didn’t want to see him again. He felt too betrayed. And it was such a fresh wound. He really didn’t feel like reopening it anytime in the near future. 

 And yet, a small- really, super, _itsy bisty_ \- part of him did want to see Jack again. 

 That part that had trusted Jack wholeheartedly when he was in his head. The part of Rhys that still held on to the hero Rhys believed Jack was. 

 The part of Rhys that _knew_ there were too many things left unspoken between them, and too many things Rhys wanted to ask Jack. 

 And for a fleeting moment Rhys got an idea. 

 An awful idea, which probably really wouldn’t be good for his health. 

 He could have his ECHOeye put back in. He could talk to Jack and he could try to get through to him. Try to talk things through. _Maybe_ Rhys could change Jack. Maybe Rhys could try to make Jack _better_.

 And Rhys didn’t have his arm so no surprise strangulations. 

 And if Jack became too much he could simply ask that they remove his eye. It would be a hell of a lot safer than what he had done. 

 But Rhys _knew_ he couldn’t change Jack. He knew everything was said and done and there was no way he could make Jack a better man. 

 But that didn’t stop Rhys from thinking about it.

 Timothy spoke again, his focus back on the echo device. Rhys was brought from his thoughts, watching Timothy pick at the bandaid on the corner of the device. 

“It’d be a helluva lot safer on Sanctuary than, well, here.” Timothy glanced up to eye his little shack, then glanced at Rhys, shrugging. “But you don’t have to go there. You don’t have to stay here either. I’m not gonna force you. Just trying to help.” 

 Rhys blinked at Timothy. Sure, Rhys didn’t _have_ to stay with Timothy. Rhys could take his arm and be on his way. But he knew he probably wouldn’t last a day alone on the Pandoran deserts. He had no weapons and huge set back with his missing arm and eye. 

 So yes. Leaving was an option. But not a good one. 

 “I think I’ll stick with you for now.” Rhys scratched the back of his neck and yawned. He was tired. Well more like drained. Also a little hungry. But sleep definitely came first. 

 Timothy noticed Rhys’ tiredness and stuffed the echo device away in his pocket. 

 “Then it’s settled. We can head for Sanctuary in the morning. You can get some rest for now.” Timothy offered Rhys a smile, which Rhys would have gladly returned if his eyelids had been so kind as to not shut on him. He mumbled in response instead, hoping it was somewhat intelligible to “ok”, then let his head fall back onto the mattress as he let sleep consume him. 

 

~

 

_“Will we come back here, Not-Jack?”_  

 “We talked about the ‘Not Jack’ thing, CT. You know it makes me uncomfortable” 

  _“Sorry Timothy. Old habits die hard! You still haven’t answered my question. I just wanna know how big of a suitcase I’m going to need-”_

“Why the _hell_ would you need a suitcase?”

 Rhys woke up to Claptrap and Timothy talking (arguing?). Rhys’ head still hurt but it was definitely more bearable than the day before. He pushed himself to sit up, running a hand through his greasy hair. He _really_ needed a shower. 

_“I have a lot of stuff I need, Timothy! But the number of stuff varies depending on how long this trip will be.”_

 Timothy walked into the area Rhys was in, Claptrap following right behind him. Timothy looked exhausted. And it didn’t look like Claptrap was helping the situation.  

 “Look, CT, I’m sure we’ll come back. But I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. And carrying a big bag of stuff is just going to get in the way.” 

 Rhys stared down at the clothes he had on while the two bickered. He was wearing the button up shirt from his suit, along with his half-striped pants, but it was all bloodied and dirty. He needed a shower  _and_ a change of clothes. Rhys’ stomach growled suddenly. Food would be nice as well, he thought, as he kicked his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. Timothy smiled in greeting as he passed, making a grab for his satchel. 

 Rhys cleared his throat and stood up. He felt sore and gross.

 “Do you, uh, have a change of clothes I could borrow?” He asked while Timothy dug through the contents of his satchel. He paused a moment then nodded, placing the satchel down and moving towards a drawer. He dug around before throwing a balled up dark blue shirt at Rhys, followed by a pair of baggy dark gray pants that appeared to have be covered in holes. He also tossed him clean bandages for his arm and eye. Rhys eyed the clothing and bandages, offering Timothy a smile. “Thanks… is there anywhere I can change?” 

 Timothy had returned to digging in his satchel but paused again to raise an eyebrow at Rhys, a small amused smile on his features.

 “I’m not looking.” He commented and returned to his satchel, but he turned to face away from Rhys. Rhys awkwardly cleared his throat and turned to Claptrap who had been muttering to himself. Rhys cleared his throat again, louder this time, and Claptrap finally looked up to Rhys. 

  _“What, prisoner? Can’t you see I’m busy planning what I’m going to take on our adventure?”_

 Rhys rolled his eyes and held up the clothing in his hands to indicate what he was trying to ask. Claptrap stayed where he was, his only reaction was the light of his eye flickering slightly, almost like a blink. 

  _“Why yes, it’s a very interesting clump of cloth, Prisoner, thank you for sharing it!”_

 Rhys sighed, mentally slamming his head against a wall. 

“I’m trying to change can you… turn around? Please?” 

 Claptrap stood still for a moment, before dramatically sighing and rolling around. 

 It was difficult for Rhys to change, at first, with the lack of an arm. But he got the hang of it after the first few fails at unbuttoning his shirt. He was able to remove the bloodied bandage from his arm with only a few awkward maneuvers. It was easier to put it on, simply wrapping it around and then he tied it at his shoulder with his hand and teeth. He was able to put on his new outfit, only almost falling over once when he was trying to put on the pants. He looked down at his outfit, taking it in. The shirt hung loose on him, it was long in the back and shorter in the front, with a sleeve that reached to his elbow. The other sleeve hung awkwardly off of his freshly bandaged shoulder. The pants stopped at his knees and were baggier than he was used to. There were a lot of holes in them as well, which Rhys was definitely not used to. He absentmindedly pat the pocket where he stuffed his ECHOeye, double checking it was still here. When he was satisfied with that, he looked down at his feet. His blue star printed socks stared up at him from the ground and he frowned. He highly doubted his skag skin boots would look good with his new outfit. And he also didn’t really feel like getting them any dirtier than they already were.  

 Rhys’ thoughts were interrupted by a thud at his feet and he realized a pair of black combat boots had been thrown at him. He looked up at Timothy who stood in front of him with his arms crossed and a grin on his face. 

 “Now you look more like a Pandoran than Hyperion.” 

 Rhys flushed, his eyes turning back to the boots on the ground beside him. They looked big. He sighed and pulled them on. They slipped on easily, but they definitely weren’t the right size. He tied them tight, with only a _little bit_ of help from Timothy, hoping that would work to keep them on. He stood up and took a few experimental steps, satisfied enough with how they fit. Timothy watched him, an empty satchel in his hand. It was different from the other one he had been digging around. It was smaller and more ratted. He held it out to Rhys, who took it gingerly and examined it. 

 “I have some essentials I can give you. You’ll need somewhere to store them. Also,” Timothy pulled a pistol out from a holister at his side, handing it to Rhys. Rhys didn’t have much experience with guns. Even at Hyperion he never got to handle the guns one-on-one. He was a simple programmer. The pistol definitely wasn’t Hyperion, though. It felt heavy in Rhys’ hand. His grip tightened on it. 

“It’s best to have some form of protection. You never know what can happen.” Timothy put his own satchel on his shoulder, pulling a few items from it. He handed a flask and some bullets to Rhys who stuffed them in his satchel. Rhys had tucked the pistol in his pants, and it rubbed against him uncomfortably. He ignored it as he pulled the satchel over his head on onto his shoulder. 

 Rhys was ready.

 At some point Claptrap had rolled away, returning with his bowl-hat in his head. The metal of the bowl glinted in the sunlight shining through the nearby window. Claptrap stood with his hands on what could be considered his hips. 

  _“You said I could bring one thing so I decided to bring my new hat! This is as good a time as any to test it out!”_ Claptrap spoke, sounding excited for the “adventure.” Rhys couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips. Timothy on the other hand rolled his eyes. 

 “Ok, fine. You can take the hat but if I hear you complain about it _once_  I’m throwing it to the nearest group of skags for them to play with.” 

 

~

 

 It wasn’t long before the gang finally set out, Rhys clutching the ECHOeye in his pocket absentmindedly as they walked away from the shack, the hot Pandora sun beating down on them. Rhys was thankful the clothing Timothy had given him were loose and light. Timothy had also decided to rip the right sleeve off of Rhys’ shirt, so it wouldn’t get in the way or be a nuisance. Rhys was very thankful for that as well. 

 Rhys found his thoughts moving back to Jack, as they usually did. He wondered why Jack had never mentioned Timothy. Rhys could only assume Timothy was one of Jack’s infamous body doubles, but he had assumed the body doubles used some sort of cloaking device. It was kind of…off-putting seeing Jack’s face but on someone like Timothy. He certainly didn’t match Jack’s personality. And, granted, Timothy seemed to have purposefully grew out his hair and facial hair in an attempt to appear different. Or maybe it was from the lack of utilities to cut his hair. Rhys wasn’t entirely sure but the first possibility seemed more likely with Timothy’s situation. 

 Rhys also found himself wondering why he had decided to keep the eye piece. 

 It had been a question in the back of his mind for the past two days but he had been too tired to address it. In all honesty he wasn’t sure why he kept it. He could probably come up with a dumb reason. 

 But it had been a simple “I’ll keep it in case I need it later” impulse. He had stuffed the ECHOeye in his pocket, and it left a warm feeling there. It was an almost… comforting. 

 Rhys’ eye began to throb with fresh pain as he thought back to when he pulled it out. The adrenaline had numbed most of the pain at the time but _goddammit_ the consequences hurt like hell. Yanking an eye out was certainly not an experience he wanted to go through again any time soon. 

 But Rhys found himself thinking back to what he had thought about the day before. How it would be so simple to plug Jack in. To have him back. 

 Rhys had a lot of questions he wanted to ask Jack. And a part of Rhys simply wanted to try again. 

 Simply refresh and start anew. 

 But there was also the bigger part of him that wanted to slap Jack. Punch him. Maybe kick him a few times just to make sure his pride was wounded.  

 But he couldn’t very well do that with Jack being trapped in the eyepiece. 

 Rhys’ grip tightened on the eye, and he glanced over at Timothy who had pulled his scarf back over his face. Rhys humored the thought of telling Timothy his situation. Timothy would probably think he was crazy. 

 But Timothy _had_ asked about what happened.  

 And _if_ Rhys decided to bring Jack back it would be better he knew of Rhys’s intentions and reasons _before_ it happened. 

 Rhys sighed to himself, closing his eyes and taking a moment to compose himself. 

 It was going to be one hell of a trip.  


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly a filler chapter, but it gives you a bit of insight on how Claptrap and Timothy have been surviving. 
> 
> Also they’re traveling on Pandora. Dumb bandits were bound to make an appearance.

  “I think I should tell you what happened to me.”

 Rhys had ultimately decided to explain his situation to Timothy. He had his speech planned out and his feelings sorted. He was ready to share his story. 

 Timothy offered him a sideways glance, one eyebrow raised, before he focused his attention back in front of him. They had been walking for the better part of an hour. They hadn’t gotten too far and Rhys was already tired. 

 “Well if you’re comfortable with sharing it. I’m all ears.” Timothy responded, waiting for Rhys to either continue or drop the conversation. 

 Rhys cleared his throat. He opened his mouth to speak, but was rudely interrupted by a horn from a truck. Rhys and Timothy both turned around to find a large truck of bandits hurling towards them, hooping and hollaring as they approached. Timothy protectively put an arm out in front of Rhys, blocking him from moving towards the bandits.

“I’ll deal with this,” Timothy commented, holding his other hand at the ready by his holistered gun. 

 The bandits pulled up to the group, their tires haulting with an unpleasant screech. Dust and dirt filled Rhys’s senses causing him to cough. The bandits didn’t seem to care. 

 The truck was filled with at least seven people. A driver with two other people sitting next to him, then four people piled in the back of the truck. They reeked of alcohol and blood. It was possibly the most unpleasant combination Rhys had ever smelled. The driver seemed to be the leader, judging from his buffer appearance and the way he was staring down at Timothy and Rhys like they were below him in social standards.

 “And where are you boys headin’?” The supposed leader questioned, his arm resting on the back of his seat as he turned slightly to get a better view of them. Rhys noticed he was missing a lot of teeth, and he had a long scar going from the side of his forehead down to his chin. 

 “Just scavenging.” Timothy spoke up. He moved in front of Rhys, blocking him and Claptrap from the bandits. Claptrap didn’t seemed too concerned, he kept trying to peek past Timothy’s legs to see what was going on.

 The bandit leader laughed, shaking his head. The other bandits joined in on his laughing, a loud and obnoxious sound that made Rhys’s head start to throb again. They sounded like a pack hyenas. 

 “Yeah, well you see, this is _my_ area. You can’t walk around here for free.” 

 Timothy stiffened, but he kept his posture and steady gaze. 

 “This land doesn’t belong to anyone.” Timothy said matter-of-factly. The bandit leader chuckled. 

 “Well it belongs to me now. And you’re gonna pay us to pass through here,” he arched a bushy eyebrow, snapping his fingers. The rest of the bandits pulled out weapons and aimed them all at Timothy. “Are is that gonna be a problem?”

 Rhys gulped and looked to Timothy with an unsure stare. Maybe they should have stayed back in the shack. 

 Claptrap suddenly made a strange beeping sound, sounding almost surprised. It drew the attention of the bandits to him. 

 The bandit leader arched a brow at Timothy and gestured to Claptrap with his gun. 

“What’s that you’ve got there?” 

 Timothy stood his ground, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“That’d be my personal robot. He’s a useful thing. And rare too,” Timothy watched the Bandit leader closely. 

 The leader scratched his chin in thought. 

“That worth anything?”

Timothy raised an eyebrow. 

 “Oh so you want my money _and_ my robot?” 

 The bandit leader made a snarling sound, the barrel of his gun jutting out closer to Timothy. 

 “Tell you what, you give me your little robot and you can forget about the fee.” 

 Timothy held up a finger to his chin as if in thought. Rhys shot him confused stare that translated as ‘ _really?’_.

 Timothy turned to Rhys and Claptrap after a moment, winking at Rhys with a small smile on his features.

 Rhys was utterly confused. 

 “Alright,” Timithy finally responded, stepping aside and placing a hand on Claptrap’s back. He gave Claptrap a gentle shove towards the truck, earning another surprised beep from Claptrap. “You can have him.” 

 Claptrap swung around to Timothy, the action knocking off his ‘hat’. 

_“Wait what?!”_ Claptrap exclaimed before being hauled up into the truck by two of the bandits. They threw him in the back, none too gently. 

 The bandit leader chuckled from his seat.

 “We can tear it arpart for scrap. Sell it.” He grinned a nearly toothless grin, offering Rhys and Timothy a lazy wave. 

 “Nice doin business with you, hope I don’t see ya around.” He didn’t wait for a response, simply drove off leaving Timothy and Rhys alone. 

 Rhys blinked at Timothy in surprise, watching as he walked over to the bowl Claptrap had dropped. 

 “ _What_  just happened?” Rhys asked, glancing between Timothy and the area the bandits drove off in. Timothy picked up the bowl and dusted it off, stuffing it in his satchel. He offered Rhys a reassuring smile. 

 “I wouldn’t worry too much about Claptrap. He’ll be fine.” Timothy walked back to Rhys, nodding his head forward. “C’mon, let’s go. We still have a ways to go.” 

 

~

 

Not but 20 minutes of walking later, the truck of bandits drove up behind Timothy and Rhys, slamming to a stop and causing dust to form around them. They shoved Claptrap out of the vehicle and he landed on his face with an audible _“ouch!”_. Rhys immediately noticed the group seemed a man short. 

 “Take the little shit back! We don’t want him! He never _shuts up_!” The one who pushed Claptrap out of the truck said. 

 “He made Eddie  _shoot_ himself just so he didn’t have to listen to him anymore!” The bigger bandit in the back spoke up. “Eddie was the only one who knew how to cook! What’re we gonna do now, boss?” He whined, sounding more like he was having a personal crisis than actually asking. “Boss” ignored him nonetheless. 

 “Look, forget about the payment. Just take that robot and get the _fuck_ out of here.” The leader bandit said, his hands clutching the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white.

 Timothy tried to hide his amused smile as he offered them a salute. 

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” 

 The bandits drove off, a broken cry of _“Eddddiieee…”_ echoed through the area as they disappeared from view. 

_“Well they seemed nice.”_ Claptrap spoke up from where he still laid on the ground. Timothy helped him up, chuckling to himself. Once Claptrap was back on his feet- well, _wheel_ - he pat Claptrap on his head affectionately. 

 “Never change, buddy.” 

_“Don’t worry, Timothy! It’s literally impossible for me to change my core personality without-”_

 Claptrap was cut off by Timothy kicking him, walking away with a roll of his eyes. 

 “Aaaaand I take it back.” Timothy said as he walked ahead of Rhys. 

_“I may not have nerves to have felt that kick physically, but that most certainly hurt my pride.”_

 Timothy had walked a ways ahead before reaching into his satchel and throwing the bowl behind him to Claptrap. Claptrap caught it enthusiastically, placing it on his head.

  _“Hell yeah!”_ Claptrap exclaimed, happily rolling to meet up with Timothy. 

 Rhys stood back, confused and mildly amused at the what he had just witnessed, watching the two as they continued ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo again. Just wanted to say sorry if updates are a little slow, I’m graduating soon and my life is currently a mixture of stress and excitement. Good news is I’ve pretty much planned this fic all out and know how I want it to end. 
> 
> Bad news is that I still have to write all the chapters leading up to the end. Like can you believe the audacity? A fic not writing itself? Smh. 
> 
> Anyway make sure to leave a kudo and maybe shoot me a comment if you’ve got the time :)


	4. Chapter 4

 The sky had turned a dark orange as the sun began to set in the Pandoran sky. It was hot, and the long Pandora days seemed to make it even hotter and more miserable. Rhys’ legs hurt like hell and he was a sweaty and dirty mess. 

 But at least the sunset was nice. 

 They had stopped at what seemed to be a rest area, containing a roofed area with vending machines. Rhys plopped himself on the wooded area under the roof, leaning back on his his hand while Timothy approached one of the vending machines. It had an image of a large bullet on it, and said _**Ammo Dump**_ in large letters across the front. Rhys assumed it was a place to purchase bullets. 

 They had encountered some skags on their little “Adventure”, but Timothy had been able to easily kill them. Rhys had tried to shoot one but missed horribly, then promptly decided he would let Timothy take care of them and ask for some training another time. 

 While Timothy looked at the vending machine options, Claptrap rolled around nearby, seemingly talking nonsense to no one in particular. Rhys picked at the bandage on his eye, pondering if he should ask Timothy for a fresh one. Timothy inturupted is thoughts, however. 

 “Earlier you wanted to talk about what happened to you,” Timothy clicked a button, and a pack of bullets fell down the vending machine. Timothy reached down and pulled them out, shooting a curious glance towards Rhys. “Still wanna talk about it?” 

 Rhys blinked blankly at Timothy for a moment. He had completely forgotten about that. He considered telling Timothy. He was _going_ to earlier, but suddenly he wasn’t sure. What if Timothy thought he was insane and decided to leave him defenseless (well not _entirely_ defensless, he had a gun, just horrible aim), and practically useless on the Pandoran desert Rhys was completely unfamiliar with? What if he decided to crush Rhys’ eye himself and be rid of Jack for good? There were too many what ifs and Rhys didn’t like that. 

 But he knew he had to tell Timothy something. 

 Rhys ran his hand through his hair, staring at the ground in thought. 

“Yeah. I wanna talk about it.” Which was a complete lie but he couldn’t keep Timothy in the dark forever. But… Rhys could choose _what_  Timothy knew about. 

 

 ~

 

“So Jack died with Helios?” 

 So Rhys hadn’t _entirely_  lied. He told the truth about Jack being in his head ( _hoping_ Timothy would believe him), and to his luck, Timothy had believed him. Claimed that it “sounded like something Jack would do.” 

 Then Rhys had explained how Jack had fooled him and took over Helios, so Rhys had to stop him and had been the cause of Helios crashing. The part where Rhys had lied was with what happened to Jack. 

 Rhys said Jack died with Helios. 

 Rhys just wasn’t sure Timothy would react well to Jack _technically_ being in Rhys’ pocket. 

 Rhys nodded in response to Timothy’s question, reassuring that Jack had died. Which was a complete lie, Rhys knew that, and he couldn’t help but start fiddling with the eye in his pocket. 

 Timothy apparently noticed the action and shot him a questioning stare. 

  _Great_. 

 Rhys worried at his lower lip, slowly pulling out the eye piece. 

 “So I, _hah_ , funny story, but I still have my eye.”

 He attempted a humored smile, trying to make light of the situation, but Timothy furrowed his brows in response.

 “You couldn’t have told me that  _sooner_?” Timothy finally offered him his own amused smirk, glancing down at the eye Rhys held up. “How’d you even get a hold of it?” 

 Rhys stared at the eye, the wires hanging off of his palm. 

 “On Helios when I was on my way to shut down the station I… uh… tripped. And when I fell I hit my head on the ground. Really hard. It made the eye uh really loose. And I had to pull it out.” 

 Yeah that sounded _totally_ believable. 

 Rhys gave Timothy a nervous grin.

 Timothy’s face was a mixture of uncertainty and cringing in evident pain at the mental image of what Rhys had said. At some point during Rhys’ story Timothy had sat down next to him. 

 “That… doesn’t sound good _at all_.” Timothy slowly brought his hand up to Rhys’ head, tapping the uninjured side of his forehead with his pointer finger. “You sure you didn’t mess anything else up with the fall?” He grinned and Rhys playfully smacked his hand away with a roll of his eye. 

“ _Yes_ , I’m sure. I’m perfectly fine. But _thanks_ for your concern.” 

Their conversation was cut short when Claptrap rolled up to them. 

_“The fast travel station is right up ahead! And I saw no life threatening danger on the way to it and from it so we should be safe!”_

 Timothy offered Claptrap a smile and pat him affectionately as he stood up. 

 “Thanks, buddy.” He commented as he began walking ahead. Rhys wasn’t far behind, following the two as they continued towards their destination. 

 Rhys _really_ hoped he would be able to get some food soon. 

 

~

 

 Sanctuary definitely wasn’t what Rhys was expecting. 

 For one thing, it was _floating_. 

 Which was mainly what threw Rhys off but _still_. They had made it to Sanctuary and the sun was still setting. The sky had turned into a deep red blending into a dark purple, and Rhys would have found the sunset gorgeous but he was too preoccupied with the floating city he was on and trying _not_ to throw up. 

 Ok _yes_ Rhys lived and worked in a space station for a good while which was pretty damn high up but that was in _space_. You couldn’t see what was below you and there was no fear of falling down to your _death_. 

 So yes. Rhys was _terrified_. 

 “Whoa, man, you good?” Timothy had apparently noticed Rhys’ uneasiness and placed a hand on his shoulder, concerned eyes meeting Rhys’ bulging ones. 

 “I think I’m gonna be sick,” Rhys was able to say before throwing up on the road beside him. 

 Timothy cringed, stepping away. Claptrap audibly mumbled _“gross.”_

 Rhys’ stomach churned painfully, the lack of food finally taking over. He dry heaved, his stomach rumbling in an almost unbearable way. He was suddenly really tired. His head was throbbing and he felt so weak. 

 ”Rhys, kid stay with me-” Timothy’s voice began to fade as Rhys felt his consciousness fade away. 

 

 ~

 

 Timothy caught Rhys before he fell to the ground. He sighed at the male’s unconscious form, readjusting his hold on Rhys as he carried him towards their destination. The walk probably took a lot out of the kid. 

 Timothy walked down the vaguely familiar path towards Moxxi’s diner. He had only been to Sanctuary a few times, and those visits were a long time ago. Timothy wondered momentarily how Moxxi would react to seeing him. The last time they saw each other he had just lost his eye. Moxxi had apparently called him on his ECHO a few times to check up on him, and when he hadn’t answered she got worried. She had sent some people down there to find him and see if everything was okay. They did _not_ find Timothy okay, and instead found him unconscious and bloodied and missing an eye. 

 Timothy had woken up on Sanctuary with a bandage over his eye and Moxxi sitting in a chair beside the bed he was in. She was angry and upset, but not necessarily at _him_. She _had_ lashed out on him though. Claiming, _“You should have been more careful you moron. If you wanted to see me again so badly, you could have just called.”_

 Timothy smiled fondly at the memory. 

 Losing his eye _sucked_ but it had been good to see her again.

 And as it would seem, he would be seeing her again with _another_ problem. But at least Timothy wasn’t the one missing an eye this time. 

 The bright **MOXXXI’S** sign lit up his path as he walked towards it. The red reflected off of the walls and puddles in an almost familiar way. He hesitated at the entrance for a moment. Claptrap spoke up behind him. 

_“Do you think Moxxi will remember me? It’s been a while. Especially with this new hat! I might be unrecognizable!”_

 Timothy snorted. 

 “Oh, I’m sure she remembers you, bud.”

 Timothy breathed in once more, preparing himself for a moment longer, before reaching for the door and opening it. 

 He was greeted by soft music playing and the dim lights of the bar. Moxxi stood behind the bar, talking with one of the patrons. She tilted her head back and laughed. Timothy felt his heart skip a beat and he suddenly felt like he couldn’t move. Claptrap rolled passed him and _loudly_ introduced himself, alerting _everyone_ of their presence. 

  _“Hiya, Moxxi! Long time no see. You probably don’t remember me, I know, the hat might have thrown you off a bit. But it’s me, Claptrap, and Timothy is over by the door!”_ Claptrap pointed back towards Timothy and Timothy wanted nothing more than to die right then and there. Moxxi met his gaze and he offered her a shrug and a smile, but she seemed focused on the unconscious body he was holding. 

 Timothy had _almost_ forgotten about that. 

 When Timothy finally entered the bar everyone seemed to return to their own business. Timothy approached Moxxi, a grin on his face. 

 “ _Heyyy_ , Mox. It’s… been a while.” 

 Moxxi raised an eyebrow at him, her own smile appearing on her face. She glanced down at Rhys’ body then back up to Timothy. 

 “As much as I’d _love_ to catch up with you, Timmy,” she pointed a finger at Rhys. “I’m more curious with what the story is with _him_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack Will be appearing soon guys don’t worry ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve rewritten this chapter like 4 times so I’m just gonna stop messing with it and post it. 
> 
> I’m not particularly happy with this chapter but everything that needed to happen in it happened. So I guess I can’t really complain. This chapter is also shorter than usual, but I promise the next chapter will be better!
> 
> By the way, I have a tumblr if you guys ever wanna chat or just hit me up with a follow. My user is lavcllan. :))

Rhys woke up in an unfamiliar room for the second time in the span of two days. He mentally made a note that he needed to quickly put a stop that habit as he sat up in the bed. A sharp pain shot through his stomach, followed by a loud grumble. 

 He was _starving_. 

 “Well look who decided to join us,” An unfamiliar voice spoke from the corner of the room. He followed the voice and saw a woman standing there, her face covered in white makeup, with dark hair, and a purple top hat on her head. She was very pretty, Rhys noticed. She moved closer to the bed Rhys was in, a bowl of something in her hands. She handed the bowl out to Rhys, who took it carefully. He realized it was… cereal? He blinked down at the colorful flakes in the bowl. He heard the woman laugh above him as she moved a box to the desk next to him. Rhys looked over to the desk, seeing Handsome Jack’s smiling face staring back at him. He grimaced. 

 “When we raided Opportunity they had a…limited supply of food and resources. Most consisted of Handsome _Jackass’_ face.” She chuckled at Rhys’ grimace. “Yeah I hate it too, sugar.”

 She crossed her arms over her chest and offered him a welcoming smile. Rhys picked up the spoon in his bowl and took a bite of the cereal. It was as sugary and artificial as he could expect from something with Handsome Jack’s face on the advertisement. He glanced back over at the box, looking at the name. 

  _Handsome O’s._

 Rhys snorted, almost choking on the cereal. He shook his head and grinned because _of course_ that was what the cereal was named. He continued eating, rather greedily. He was starving and he didn’t care _what_ he was eating at that point. 

 The woman in the room with him waited until he was finished eating before she spoke again. She handed Rhys the cereal box and he gladly poured more into his bowl. 

 “My name is Moxxi, by the way.” She placed the box back on the desk, a hand on her hip as she studied Rhys’ form. 

“And I already know all about you, sugar. Tim filled me in while you were…” She gestured to his form and Rhys nodded in understanding. Rhys continued eating, shoveling the cereal in his mouth as if it was going to disappear. 

 A knock came from the door, Rhys and Moxxi’s heads turning to find Timothy standing the the doorway. 

 “Well, speak of the devil…” Moxxi said, grinning. Timothy stepped into the room and greeted Rhys with a smile. Moxxi looked between the two and headed for the door. “I’ll let you boys talk. I’ve got a bar to tend to.” And with that, she walked out of the room, the door closing behind her with a click. 

 “How’re you feeling?” Timothy asked as he reached the foot of the bed, his hands crossed over his chest. Rhys offered him a thumbs up, his mouth filled with cereal and preventing him from giving a proper answer. Timothy shook his head with a laugh. 

 “That’s good.” He moved his hands to his hips watching Rhys as he ate. Rhys felt only slightly embarrassed by his stare, but he was too hungry to care. Timothy cleared his throat and began speaking again. 

 “I got the pieces to fix your arm, so you should have it back soon.” Rhys nodded slowly, letting the words sink in. He thought about his ECHOeye. About Jack. He intended on bringing him back, but that didn’t make him any less worried of what Jack could do to him. 

 As if Timothy were reading his mind, he spoke again. 

 “And we- well,  _Moxxi_ \- talked to some people who can put your eye back in. If that eye will even still work, that is.” 

 Rhys placed his spoon in his empty bowl, moving the bowl to the desk beside him. He stared at the cereal box, Jack’s smile seemed to taunt him. He sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling the eye piece out. He stared down at it, closing his fist loosely around it. 

 “Yeah. It should work.” 

 

~ 

 

 Rhys spent the next day anxiously waiting for his inevitable reunion with Jack. He wasn’t scared for the surgery itself, being that he had already suffered through it once already, but he was beyond stressed about seeing Jack again. 

 Rhys knew he didn’t _have_ to bring Jack back. But… there was something nagging at him. Something inside him that _wanted_ him to bring him back.

 So he was going to. He had his questions for him ready, and if Jack tried anything he could simply tell the surgeons the eye wasn’t working and they could safely remove it. 

 Rhys paced impatiently in the room he was staying in, which he found out was Moxxi’s guest room. Rhys had felt bad at first, especially after Timothy told him he was sleeping on Moxxi’s couch, but Moxxi and Timothy assured him it was fine. He still felt a little bad though. Rhys’ thoughts were interrupted when Timothy cleared his throat, causing Rhys to look up at the doorway. Timothy smiled. 

 “It’s time, kid. You ready?” 

 Rhys bit his lower lip, breathing in, then nodded. 

 He was ready. 

 

 ~

 

 Rhys laid on a rather uncomfortable bed, his nerves were on edge. He nervously watched the surgeons moving around the room. Bright lights shined down on his face. He squinted at the lights and glanced over at the side of the bed, his ECHOeye stared back. It sat on a tray- tools, needles, and other surgical equipment surrounding it. He closed his eyes and inhaled as the surgeons began approaching him. One held a mask above him. 

 “Are you ready?” The one who held the mask asked, staring down at Rhys with an arched brow. Rhys took in a deep breath, exhaled, and nodded. The surgeon began lowering the mask down, placing it over Rhys’ mouth and nose. Rhys breathed in, feeling a little light headed already. He felt his consciousness slowly fade away, his gaze falling onto his ECHOeye one last time before the room filled with darkness.

 

~

 

_“Rise and shine, Kiddo.”_

 Rhys blinked his eyes open, his surroundings slowly coming into view. He looked around, spotting Timothy sitting in a chair nearby. He was reading a magazine, yawning in evident boredom. He looked up from the magazine and met Rhys’ gaze. His eyes widened and he placed the magazine to the side, leaning forward towards Rhys. 

 “Morning, Kid. How’re you feeling? Everything good?” 

 Rhys felt a bit disoriented, but aside from that, he felt normal. He blinked his eyes testingly, slowly nodding in response to Timothy. 

 “Yeah I’m good…” Rhys spoke, he sat up in the bed, the blankets falling down around him. His temple was a bit sore from the new port, and he absentmindedly touched it. He fingertips met the cool metal of the port, then moved down to his eye. He felt the area around his eye, his fingers lightly tracing the side. He looked around the room. It was really nice being able to see through two eyes again. Rhys turned back to Timothy who was watching him carefully. 

 Rhys decided to test out his ECHOeye. 

 He activated it, scanning Timothy. But when he tried to scan him, he felt a shock through his head and hissed, turning the eye off. Timothy chuckled awkwardly at Rhys’ side. 

 “Hah, good luck with that. Jack practically erased everything there is about me. He didn’t want people finding out the truth about me so…” Timothy shrugged and looked around the room. His gaze stopped on a potted plant in the corner of the room and he pointed to it.  “Try scanning that.” 

 Rhys turned his gaze to the plant, activating his ECHOeye for the second time. That time he successfully scanned the plant, getting all the information about it. He smiled and nodded happily at Timothy. 

 “Yeah scanning works.” 

 Rhys was gald his eye was working- he was beyond grateful that Timothy had been able to help him out and gave him the opportunity to get the eye _back_ in- but as he suddenly remembered the reason _why_ he put the eye back in he suddenly felt on edge. Jack could appear at any second. Rhys threw himself back on his bed with a sigh, closing his eyes. He opened them again to meet the concerned gaze of Timothy (a look Rhys had grown rather used to seeing). 

 “How long are they gonna keep me here?” Rhys questioned. Timothy sighed and leaned back in his own chair. 

 “They said they wanted to run a few tests when you woke up. Make sure everything works. Then you can leave.”

 Rhys nodded and stared into the corner of the room, his stomach knotting. The anticipation of Jack’s appearance was killing him. But he assumed Jack would wait until Rhys was alone. If Rhys knew Jack, and he liked to think he did, Jack would want to make a big deal out of his appearance. Rhys sighed once more as Timothy left the room the get the doctors. 

 It was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s show time, kiddos. ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It only took 6 chapters but the asshole has finally arrived.

 Rhys spent _hours_  of testing and answering questions before he was finally given the okay to leave. Timothy had left a few hours before, saying he was going to head over to Moxxi’s. Rhys was on his way there himself when he heard an all too familiar voice practically _purring_ in his ear. 

  _“Long time no see, cupcake.”_

 Rhys jumped at the sudden sound of Jack’s voice, looking around the area for any bystanders before ducking into a nearby alleyway. 

 Rhys met the holographic stare of Jack. He had his signature amused grin, his arms crossed across his chest. 

 “So what’s the occasion? Did you miss me? Did you miss my witty remarks? My charm?” Jack leaned in a bit too close for Rhys’ comfort, causing Rhys to lean away from him.

 He had forgotten just how _annoying_ jack was. 

 “None of the above,” Rhys responded with a disgusted look. He really _hadn’t_ missed any of that. 

 Jack frowned and leaned away, much to Rhys’ pleasure. 

 “Then why did you bring me back?” He asked, genuine curiousity in his voice. 

 “I wanted to ask you a few questions.” Rhys responded. Jack raised an eyebrow, his grin returning. 

 “Oh? And what are these ‘ _questions_ ’?” Jack’s form blinked away, reappearing on Rhys’ right. Rhys flinched back slightly in surprise. 

“Wait, lemme guess,” Jack began, putting a finger on his chin and tapping it in thought. “Is the first question ‘ _why did I send Jack to that dark friggin abyss of nothing_?’ Because frankly, kiddo, that’s what’s been on _my_ mind.” There was a dark glare in his eyes, anger practically fuming off of him. Rhys gulped.

 “You were trying to _kill_ me, Jack! What was I supposed to do?” Rhys backed away from Jack, his back hitting the wall at the end of the alley way. Rhys cursed to himself as Jack began approaching him. 

 “Oh, _boo hoo_. I was practically _begging_ you to not send me there, and yet, what did you fucking do? What happened to _trust_ , huh,  _Cupcake_?” He spit the nickname out with such venom that Rhys actually flinched. 

 “Yeah, what happened to _trust_ , Jack?” Rhys was scared. He was mad. He was guilty. He was feeling _a lot_ of emotions. But he still found it within him to return Jack’s question with only a slight tremor on his voice. 

 Jack blinked in surprise for a moment, staring at Rhys, unresponsive. Rhys held his breath. 

 “You think _I_ betrayed _you_?” Jack laughed bitterly. “Listen kiddo, you were useful and when I _needed_ you the most you call me a psycho and destroy _my_ space station. Thanks for that, by the way. _Super_ nice of you to do that.” 

 Rhys stared at Jack in disbelief. He shook his head.

“Ok, first off _wow_. Second off, we really need to talk about your morals.” Rhys responsed. He placed his hand over on his hip and stared Jack down. “But _that_ can wait. I still have my questions.” 

 Jack stared at Rhys for a moment longer. He seemed to be considering what Rhys said. Finally, he sighed. 

 “ _Fiiiiinnnneeeee_. What do you wanna ask me about?” 

 Rhys took in a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. He knew what he wanted to ask Jack, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to approach the questions. He decided to ask the question that had been bugging him for a while. 

 “What happened to your daughter?” 

 Rhys watched Jack carefully, watched Jack’s reaction. Jack blinked at the question, but his previous anger had faded to an almost emotionless look, then a quick flash of sadness passed through his eyes, which Rhys _almost_ missed, but just as quick as it had appeared, it disappeared. Jack arched a brow and shook his head at Rhys. 

 “ _Uh_ , that’s a _no-no_. You’ll unlock _that_ story at friendship level twenty, and currently, you’re at, like, friendship level _negative five hundred_ , so…” Jack clicked his tongue, an amused grin an his lips. “Good luck with _that_ , kiddo. Next question.”

 Rhys furrowed his brows and sighed in annoyance. 

“Ok… why did you trick me? Back on Helios you said…” Rhys’ breath caught in his throat at the memory. He had been thinking about that time, but actually confronting Jack about it- suddenly he felt like he was reliving the memory. Rhys breathed out a slow and shaky breath, his eyes closed. “You said we would work _together_.” 

 Rhys opened his eyes, meeting Jack’s stare. Jack had cocked his head to one side, his eyes staring intensely at Rhys. Rhys gulped. 

“What happened to that promise?” 

 Rhys wanted to sound angry, he wanted to let Jack know just how _pissed_ he was at him, but instead the question came out sounding almost broken. Rhys’ voice wavered and he mentally cursed to himself. He sounded so vulnerable. 

 Jack stared at Rhys for another moment, his eyebrows slowly furrowing together. Rhys shifted uncomfortably under his stare. Jack didn’t seem angry like how Rhys had assumed he would react. Instead he seemed almost… remorseful. Jack’s eyes looked away for a moment, looking back at Rhys with a look that could have been pity, but Rhys wasn’t sure as the look had quickly changed to raised brows and the hint of a smile. 

 “You can’t trust _anyone_ , cupcake. Everyone betrays you in the end.” Jack offered a Rhys a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “The sooner you learn that lesson, the better off you’ll be.” 

 Rhys didn’t respond. He looked away from Jack, staring at a wall in thought. Jack was _wrong_. Not _everyone_ was like that.

 Rhys heard Jack sigh and glanced up. Jack was looking around the area, his hands on his hips and his signature toothy grin on his face. 

“Well, this reunion was _fantastic_ if I say so myself. But I think I’ll be leaving now. We’ll talk more later, kiddo.” 

 Rhys was about to stop him, but Jack disappeared before he had the chance to say anything more. Rhys sighed and kicked at the dirt on the ground. _Of course_ Jack was going to be difficult. Rhys had almost forgotten how much of an overgrown child Jack was. It was going to be a while before Rhys got amswers he would be satisfied with. Rhys shook his head and walked out of the alleyway, making his way to Moxxi’s bar. 

 

~

 

 “Aw, is someone having a bad day?” Moxxi’s voice asked from the bar as Rhys entered the building. He frowned, shrugging at Moxxi as he made his way to the bar. Timothy was sitting on one of the stools. He offered a wave to Rhys one brow raised in question. 

 “Were the tests _that_ bad?” Timothy asked jokingly. Rhys offered Timothy a small smile, shaking his head.They didn’t question him any further, which Rhys was grateful for. Moxxi instead placed her chin in her hand as she leaned across the bar in front of Rhys. 

 “I know something that’ll cheer you up, sugar.” She smiled, raising her eyebrows at Rhys. “Ever tried my pizza before?” 

 

~

 

Rhys wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he hadn’t properly eaten in a few days, or the fact the Helios had _really_ shitty food, but Moxxi’s pizza was possibly the best pizza he had ever eaten. It was a cheesy, gooey gift from the gods. He’d already liked Moxxi well enough since she had let him stay at her place and had agreed to help Rhys with his cybernetics, so when she didn’t even bat an eyelash or look at him funny when he asked for pineapple on his pizza he was practically in love. (In a completely platonic way, of course.) 

 Rhys had already scarfed down about half of the pizza, and was working on another slice, when he was rudely interrupted. 

 “ _Pineapple pizza_?” He heard Jack’s voice before he saw him, a frown appearing on Rhys’ face at the sudden intrusion. Jack appeared in the booth across from Rhys, shaking his head as he looked down at the pizza in disgust. 

 “Wow, Rhys. I mean _really_. I’m sorry, pumpkin, but I don’t think this is gonna work out between us anymore,” Jack waved his hand between the two of them then gestured to the half eaten pizza. “It’s not me, it’s you and your awful taste in pizza toppings.” 

 Rhys continued eating his pizza, ignoring Jack long enough to finish his slice. 

 “I thought you left?” Rhys questioned as he swallowed the last bit of his pizza. He was whispering, more like hissing, trying to keep the conversation to himself. He raised an eyebrow in question to which Jack responded with a toothy grin. 

 “Well, I can never _truly_ leave, Rhysie, you should know that. I’m always here inside your pretty little head. Just sometimes I’m more conscious than other times.” When Rhys raised his other eyebrow instead of answering Jack sighed in defeat, restng his chin in his hand. “I got bored.” 

 Rhys leaned back in his chair. He glanced around the room and noticed that no one was paying attention, all preoccupied by their own drinks or too drunk to even care. 

“You got _bored_?” Rhys repeated Jack’s statement. 

 Jack sighed and nodded. 

“It’s nice to see your hearing is working fine, cupcake.” He leaned back and eyed Rhys for a moment. “Also I’ve been thinking.” 

 Rhys would have scoffed but he couldn’t find it in him too. He was still pissed at Jack. 

“A dangerous pastime.” 

That didn’t mean he would stop with his dry quips.

 Jack didn’t seem phased, however, and continued talking. 

 “Yeah, so you see, what you said earlier about your _feelings_ and stuff really got me thinkin. I hadn’t even _considered_ how you felt about having an endoskeleton stuffed inside of you and that was selfish of me, I realize that now.”

 Rhys couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It almost sounded like Jack was  _apologizing_. An awful attempt at it, but Rhys had to give him credit for trying. 

 “ _But_ , to be fair, it was for good cause.” Jack finished, making Rhys take back whatever credit he gave Jack before. Rhys rolled his eyes at the hologram and released an exasperated sigh. 

 “What ‘ _good cause_ ’, perse?” Rhys bit back. 

 “ _My_ cause, of course! You would have given me a body,” Jack eyed Rhys for a moment, his eyes moving down Rhys’ face then down his chest. Jack licked his lips (which was _completely_ unnecessary, being that he was a _friggin hologram_ ). “A _very_  nice body.” 

 Rhys was about to retort, but was interrupted by Timothy. Timothy walked up to Rhys’ both, a brow raised in question.

 “Uh, you good, man?” He asked. 

 Jack furrowed his brow, shooting an angry glare at the sudden intruder. When Timothy had spoken up, Jack’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth falling open in shock

 “ _Timtam_?” He gasped, taking in Timothy’s form. Jack scoffed in disbelief. “Well _someone_ grew some balls during his stay on Pandora. And _facial hair_. Digging the new look, Timmy. Middle aged hobo-bandit is a good look for you.”  

 Rhys shook his head, ignoring Jack, and focusing on Timothy. 

 “Yeah I’m fine.” He tried to give Timothy what he hoped was a believable smile, but Timothy only furrowed his brows in concern. 

 Jack spoke up again, irritation evident in his voice. “Ah, I see. You’re ignoring me now. Real cute, Rhysie. Real cute.”

 Rhys chose not to even acknowledge Jack’s comment. Rhys would talk to Jack later. Out of earshot from people.

“Is there something you wanted, Tim?” Rhys asked. Timothy stared at him for a moment before nodding. He moved to the booth across from Rhys, where Jack was sitting, and started sliding into it. Jack watched him questioningly, quickly blinking away when Timothy had scooted right through him. Jack reappeared next to Rhys and shook his head. 

“ _Someone_ doesn’t know what personal space is.” Jack commented as he leaned back into the booth. It took all of Rhys’ willpower not to roll his eyes. Instead he kept his attention on Timothy. 

 Timothy leaned forward on the table, a growing smile on his face. 

“I was able to work on your arm today, and I’m happy to announce that it should be in working condition within the next day.” Timothy was practically grinning at this point, excitement pouring off of him like a child on Christmas Day. Rhys smiled in return. “I just need to make a few modifications to it. Run some tests. But you’ll have your arm back soon.” 

 Rhys was grinning along with Timothy because _dammit_ that excitement was contagious. Though Rhys was mildly concerned about his _new_ problem concerning Jack. He’d worry about that later. 

 Timothy pulled out his ECHO device, pulling up a picture of what seemed to be blueprints of Rhys’ arm. Timothy pointed to the picture. 

 “So one new modification I’m trying to add is a finger gun,” Timothy shaped his own hand into a finger gun as an example. “It would be more convenient and since your hand will be directly connected to your ECHOeye, you’ll be able to use that to help you aim and find weak spots.” 

 Timothy kept talking, pointing to new parts and modifications for Rhys’ arm, a huge grin on his face as he did so. Rhys couldn’t believe how much of a dork Timothy was. He was smiling fondly at Timothy when Jack suddenly cleared his throat, reminding Rhys of his existence. 

 “Can you believe how much of a _nerd_ Timmy is?” Jack questioned, offering Rhys what sounded like a nervous laugh. Rhys eyed Jack from the corner of his eyes, before turning his attention back to Timothy. 

 “I mean, c’mon. ‘ _Oooh look at me, fixing your arm and stuff. Look you have actual finger guns now._ ’” Jack shook his head. Rhys thought he heard something in Jack’s tone akin to… _jealousy_? 

 Rhys blinked in shock for a moment because Jack was most _definitely_  jealous. 

 “Just because you _kinda_ look like me, _Timmy_ , doesn’t mean you’re as _cool_ as me.” Jack grumbled from Rhys’ side and Rhys had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing. Rhys glanced over to Jack, noticing his pouting form. Rhys turned back to Timothy and put on the biggest grin he could muster. 

 “This is all _really_ awesome, Tim.” Rhys commented, sugarcoating his words. He watched Jack shoot forward at Rhys’ words. Rhys could have _sworn_ he heard Jack growl. 

 Timothy flushed a bit at the compliment, putting the blueprints away with one swipe of his hand. He stuffed the device into his pocket and scratched the back of his neck. 

 “Thanks… it’s nice being able to work on this. It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to work on a project like this.” He shrugged and smiled at Rhys. Rhys rested his cheek against the palm of his hand, smiling back at Timothy. Jack was _fuming_ beside him. 

 Rhys found the situation _hilarious._

At least until Jack mumbled “That’s enough of _that.”_ Then proceeded to place the tip of his pointer finger against Rhys’ port, sending a jolt of electricity through Rhys’ head. Rhys hissed as his eye flickered, and he realized that Jack had hacked into his ECHOeye. 

 Timothy must have noticed Rhys’ eye change, because he was suddenly leaning forward looking directly at Rhys’ ECHOeye.

 “Rhys, uh, your eye-”

Timothy wasn’t able to finish his sentence as the slot machines in the corner of the bar came to life with loud beeping and lights. Timothy jerked his head in the direction of the slot machines, watching as they suddenly beeped louder and a flashing sign that read _JACKPOT_ appeared on both. Money began shooting out of them, people rushing to collect the money. Timothy took off towards the machines, trying to figure out what was going on.

 Rhys watched Timothy run off, his eye slowly returning to himself as Jack laughed beside him. 

 “ _Ha!_ That was good. You see what I did there, Rhysie? _‘Jack_ pot’? Eh?” He tried nudging Rhys’ side but his elbow went straight through Rhys. Rhys glared at Jack and slid through him to get out of the booth. Jack groaned in annoyance and followed not too far behind. 

 Rhys stormed out of the bar and was making his way to Moxxi’s house, which wasn’t too far from the bar itself. Jack stayed eerily silent as they made their way back. It wasn’t until Rhys had safely entered Moxxi’s home did he finally turn to acknowledge Jack. 

 “What the _hell_ was that, Jack?” 

 Jack raised his hands in defense, offering a grin. 

 “Aw, c’mon, cupcake, I was just having a little fun.” 

 Rhys shook his head. 

 “You can’t just _hack_ my eye like that! I don’t care _how_ jealous you are-“ 

“ _Jealous?_ You think I’m _jealous_ of that… _hobo_?” Jack laughed bitterly, folding his arms over his chest. “You think I _care_ about you enough to be jealous? News flash, kiddo, but  _I hate you.”_

 Rhys sighed in exasperation. This was getting them _no where._ He threw himself down on Moxxi’s couch, staring up at Jack with tired eyes. 

“The feeling’s mutual.” Rhys responded. He rested his elbow on the armrest, laying his head against his palm. 

 Jack stayed silent for a moment, mumbling a curt, “ _Good.”_

They stayed like that for a while, a tense silence falling between them, before Jack ultimately decided to leave. He disappeared without a word and Rhys screwed his eyes shut, willing his sudden migraine to disappear. When it didn’t, he stood up from the couch with a sigh, making his way to the guest room he was staying in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/gBo26500o7U
> 
> That’s basically Rhys and Jack’s relationship in this fic.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rhys finally gets a shower.

  Rhys woke up the next morning to no Jack.  

 Which didn’t surprise Rhys, he knew Jack was probably still going to be mad from their argument, but it still left him a little uneasy. 

 Rhys sat up in his bed, stretching. He ran his hand through his hair, feeling the dirt and grease that had built up and cringed. 

 He needed a shower, asap. 

 Rhys threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching once more and feeling his aching bones pop at the action. He winced at a particular ache in his leg as he began walking. He assumed it must have been from the journey to sanctuary, or maybe it was just a combination of injuries from the crash and the constant movement since then. He wasn’t sure. And frankly, he didn’t care at that moment. He’d take some pain meds later. All he needed at that moment was a shower. 

 Rhys made it to the bathroom and noticed the house was quiet, meaning that Moxxi must have already left for work and Timothy was out- probably working on Rhys’ arm. 

 Rhys stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror once he entered, taking in his appearance. 

 Timothy had been right. He most certainly looked like a Pandoran. 

 Rhys’ hair was a tangled, greasy mess. It hung down in his face and sprung out in random places. He had dark circles under his eyes, particularly around his left eye. He eyed the ECHOeye for a moment, biting his lip, before moving his gaze to his outfit. The shirt Timothy had let him borrow was raggedy and dirty. It hung off of right shoulder awkwardly, since it had no arm to support it. His bandage on his shoulder was visible, but it was clean. He had changed it the day before. 

 Rhys sighed at his reflection. He had no idea how people in Pandora could live in such a dirty lifestyle. He already missed his old apartment back on Helios- the cleanliness of it. His luxury of a shower everyday.  

 Rhys shook his head of the thought and began removing his shirt, dropping it on the counter by the sink. Then he got to work with removing his shoulder bandage. He let the bandage drop to the ground beside him, his eyes staring at the place where his arm should be. The skin surrounding the metal on his shoulder was bruised, and dried up blood was crusted around the rim of the metal. 

 Rhys suddenly realized that his actions were for naught and almost laughed. He had brought Jack back anyway. He had endured the pain of removing his cybernetics to be rid of Jack- only to bring him right back. 

 Rhys wondered, not for the first time since the beginning of his “adventure”, if his sanity was okay. 

 Rhys recalled what Jack had said when Rhys had removed his arm. 

  _“One day, when you’ve forgotten all about me, I’ll take over your body and skin you alive with your own two hands.”_

 Rhys felt a shiver course through his body. When Jack first said that it had been a real possibility- Rhys had been _terrified_. 

 But that had been before Rhys had removed Jack. Before Jack had to experience… _whatever_ it was he experienced in the “black abyss”, as he referred to it. 

 Rhys suspected Jack wouldn’t be so inclined to kill Rhys after that. Jack liked attention. And he liked _living_. 

 If Jack killed Rhys Jack would die too. 

 So Rhys assumed he was safe for the time being. 

 Rhys continued undressing, turning on the shower and stepping in. The warm water felt _heavenly_ against his bruised and tired body, but Rhys wasn’t able to properly enjoy it with his thoughts continuing to return to Jack. 

 Rhys hated to admit it, but a part of him had actually _missed_ Jack. Rhys had grown used to Jack’s comments and presence, and he hadn’t realized how lonely he had actually felt without him until he was back in his head. He wasn’t necessarily _happy_ with Jack’s return, but there was a strange part of him that felt… complete. Maybe it was some sort of reverse Stockholm syndrome, Rhys wasn’t entirely sure.

 Rhys stayed in the shower for longer than he should have. He was just enjoying the feel of the water and being clean for once. He decided to finally emerge, with some reluctance, and threw back on the outfit from Timothy. He _definitely_ needed more clothes. That was another thing he would never understand about Pandorans. How they were able to wear the _same clothes everyday_. Rhys found himself missing his sock collection. And his ties. He sighed at his reflection, taking in his now clean hair and face, and giving his clothes a small sneer. 

 Jack hadn’t bothered Rhys while he was showering, whether that was out of respect of privacy or if Jack was still mad, Rhys wasn’t sure. Rhys shrugged the thought away and made his way out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Moxxi had left him a box of _Handsome O’s_ on the bar, and Rhys gladly helped himself to it. He was about halfway done with his breakfast when Timothy walked through the front door, his eyes meeting Rhys’ and a smile appearing in his face. Rhys smiled in return, offering him a small wave with a mumbled “‘morning.”

 “Rhys, just the guy I wanted to see.” Timothy said as he walked into the kitchen, throwing his satchel on the couch in the living room as he did so. Timothy leaned against the bar by Rhys, glancing at the box of cereal with a minor look of disgust, before smiling back down at Rhys. 

 “I’ve been working on your arm all morning. I think it should be ready to go. Finger guns are working as of right now which is _super_ cool. You’re gonna love it. But first,” Timothy pulled out the pistol he had given Rhys before. Rhys flushed as he eyed the pistol. He hadn’t noticed it had been missing. “ _You_  are going to get some practice with the real deal. Yes, your eye can do all the work for you with the mechanical arm, but it’s still good to know the basics.” 

 Rhys finished up his cereal, watching as Timothy placed the pistol on the bar beside him. Rhys eyed the gun as he brought the bowl to the sink, filling his bowl up with water. Rhys was no stranger to violence. On his journey he had downed _many_ people with his trusty stun baton. But a gun was… different. Rhys sighed as he walked back around the bar, picking up the pistol. 

 Timothy was right. Better safe than sorry. 

 

~

 

 A bang sounded through the shooting range as Rhys shot the gun, the bullet hitting the back wall behind the practice dummy. Rhys cursed to himself as he stared at the growing collection of bullet holes on the wall. _Third time’s a charm_ his ass. 

 Timothy offered Rhys a pity smile. “That was…better. Here,” Timothy reached for Rhys’ gun, adjusting his hold on it. 

 Rhys suddenly heard a familiar groan of annoyance come from his right. Rhys smiled to himself. He knew Jack wouldn’t hide away all day. 

 “You’re _killing_ me, cupcake. Your aim is _literally_ the worst. And don’t even get me started in your stance,” Jack sighed in disappointment. Rhys didn’t respond, but shot him a quick look, his eyebrows raised in question. Jack blinked away, reappearing next to Timothy. 

 “Let _me_ show you how it’s done, baby.” He grinned back at Rhys, winking, mirroring Rhys’ stance. Rhys controlled the urge to roll his eyes. He barely registered Timothy talking until Timothy asked him a question. Rhys blinked blankly at him. 

 “I- uh, what?” Rhys mumbled. Timothy gave him an amused smile. 

 “I was asking about your eye. How is it?”  

 Jack stood behind Timothy, rolling his eyes dramatically. He began poking his fingers through Timothy, giggling to himself at his childish antics. Rhys ignored that.

 “Oh. It’s good. It’s got this little _bug_ that can be _annoying_ at times,” Rhys emphasized the words, hoping Jack would get the hint. He did not. He instead flipped Rhys off through Timothy’s chest. Rhys sighed. “but it’s nothing crucial.” 

 Timothy offered him a mildly concerned look before shaking his head and returning back to the task at hand. He returned his attention to Rhys, correcting his stance and hold on the gun. He tried giving him a few pointers but Jack was distracting Rhys. 

  “Don’t listen to him, Rhysie. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. Look, see,” Jack stood, one foot in front of the other. The leg in the front had the knee bent forwards. Rhys glanced over for only a second, hesitating momentarily, before copying Jack’s stance. Timothy stared down at his sudden change in stance, offering him a questioning look, but continued speaking and demonstrating. Jack continued talking over Timothy. 

 “Lookin’ good so far, cupcake. Now don’t hold your arm straight out like that. Bend the elbow out a bit.” Jack demonstrated and Rhys copied it. “And loosen up a bit, for Christ’s sake. No need to be so stiff.” Jack flashed a grin and Rhys unconsciously tightened his hold on the gun. He relaxed his shoulders, focusing on his breathing as he attempted to relax the rest of his body. Timothy had moved away, eyeing Rhys’ stance and nodding his head approvingly. Jack nodded in approval too, giving Rhys a thumbs up. 

 Rhys took in a deep breath, then stared down the dummy, pulling the trigger.  

 The bullet hit the chest of the dummy, and Rhys felt a grin on his face. It was no headshot, but Rhys still felt accomplished. Rhys heard Jack chuckle and exclaim, “Nice shot, pumpkin.” While Timothy placed a hand on Rhys’ shoulder, giving him a squeeze. 

 Rhys continued practicing for about an hour more, his aim slowly but surely getting better. And Jack was actually being helpful. Jack seemed to have either completely forgotten about his initial anger with Rhys, or was doing a damn good job and ignoring it. Rhys shot once more, hitting the neck of the dummy. Jack whistled. 

 “ _That’s_ where you shoot if you wanna make ‘em suffer. It’s always fun to watch them squirm on the ground, bleeding out with nothing they can do.” Jack had a dark glint in his eyes, his grin unnerving. Rhys cleared his throat and ignored him. 

 Suddenly, a chime rang through the room, and Timothy pulled out his ECHO device. He glanced at the screen and shot Rhys an apologetic smile. 

 “I gotta take this.” He said, already clicking the answer button. Rhys heard him say,  “Hey Mox, what’s up?” Before Timothy walked out of the practice range, the door closing behind him with a loud bang. 

 Jack appeared behind Rhys, placing his hands on his shoulders. They weren’t really touching his shoulders, which was a really weird feeling. They were floating slightly above, but were there nonetheless. He turned his head slightly to shoot Jack a questioning glance. Jack smiled. 

 “So,” Jack began, his eyes looking around the room. “I’ve been thinking.” 

 Rhys rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, you’ve been doing a lot of that lately.” 

 Jack removed his hands from Rhys’ shoulders and moved in front of him, his hands on his hips. 

 “So, you obviously brought me back for a reason. For your ‘ _questions_ ’ or whatever,” he put air quotes around the word. “The fact still stands that you gave me a second chance and I _really_ don’t wanna screw that up. So.” Jack didn’t elaborate. Rhys knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. Jack sighed. 

 “You are _really_ dense,” Jack shook his head, “I’m saying that I… wanna try again with this whole ‘trust’ thing.” 

 Rhys just furrowed his brow further. Jack was acting… strange. 

 “Look, kiddo, I know I fucked up. But this is me trying to make it _right.”_ He brought his holographic hand up to Rhys’ chin, seemingly trying to hold it but instead it phased through Rhys’ face. He mumbled a curse and removed his hand, his eyes suddenly much more interested in the dummy beside them.  

 “ _Anyway,”_ Jack mumbled, his eyes finally returning to Rhys. He opened his mouth to say more, but the door opened and Timothy walked back in. Rhys turned his head to look at Timothy, and when he turned back to Jack, Jack had disappeared. Rhys stood in confusion for a moment, wondering what the _hell_ he had just experienced, then turned his attention to Timothy. Timothy seemed to be thinking. 

 “Everything good?” Rhys asked. He put the gun away in the waistband of his pants, then made his way over to Timothy. Timothy shook his head, blinking a few times before smiling. 

 “Yeah, everything’s good. Moxxi was just telling me about some rumors she heard. Nothing too important.” There was something off in Timothy’s tone. But Rhys chose to ignore it. Timothy clapped his hands together in the next second, a big grin appearing in his face. 

 “Well, are you ready to go check out your arm?” He asked, excitement practically pouring off of him. Rhys smiled back, his thoughts on Jack. He had been acting strange but he had seemed genuine. There was no condescending aura or tone in his voice. If anything he had seemed a bit embarrassed. 

 Maybe Jack really did want to start anew. Maybe there was still a chance to start over. 

 Rhys grinned and nodded up at Timothy, following him out of the door. But Rhys wasn’t grinning because of the thought his new arm. 

 He was grinning because _Handsome_   _Jack_ was trying to make things right.


	8. Chapter 8

 Rhys went back to Moxxi’s place after checking out his arm.  

 Which looked fucking _awesome_.

 Timothy had completely upgraded it, even giving it a fresh coat of paint. Instead of the chipped Hyperion yellow it had been, it was jet black, with a blue line going down the side and outlining each piece. It matched his current outfit and Rhys wondered momentarily if that had been on purpose. 

 Nevertheless, it was still awesome and Rhys was _beyond_ thankful for Timothy for fixing it up. Timothy had agreed to let Rhys rest for another day before reattaching the arm. He seemed more eager than Rhys about it. 

 Rhys hadn’t been excited, at first. But after he saw the arm in person, he had suddenly felt a rush of excitement run through him, and he couldn’t wait to test it out. 

 Of course, there was still Jack. 

 But something told Rhys that Jack wouldn’t hurt him. At least not anytime soon. 

 Rhys was still wary of Jack. But seeing that Jack seemed willing to talk, to try and make things _better_ \- well Rhys couldn’t help the giddiness that bubbled inside him. 

 Timothy had stayed back at his borrowed lab, telling Rhys to go ahead and head back to Moxxi’s without him. Moxxi usually worked late.

 So it would be just Rhys and Jack for a while.

 Rhys closed the door to Moxxi’s house behind him, leaning his back on the door. Jack appeared as if on cue.

 “It’s about damn _time_. I thought we’d _never_ get the chance to talk.” Jack stated as Rhys pushed himself off of the door, making his way towards Moxxi’s couch. He plopped down on it and stared up at Jack expectantly. 

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Rhys asked, leaning back against the couch.  Jack watched him curiously for a moment, before speaking again. 

 “I wanted to talk about _me_ ,” He said with a grin. Rhys rolled his eyes. “I’ve decided to tell you my story. So buckle up, kiddo. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.” 

 

 ~

 

 Rhys had listened to Jack, nodding when appropriate, reacting when needed. But he never dared speak. It was so much information, so much he hadn’t known.

 Jack’s life had been pretty shitty.

 Aside from being CEO and a practical _god_ , Jack didn’t have much else. He had lost _so_ much just to get to that position. 

 Rhys felt… sorry for him.

“Your daughter… killed herself?” Rhys finally spoke up, his voice quiet. Jack sat beside him on the couch, his stare far away as he relived the memories. He frowned. 

 “Not… directly. Vault hunters killed her. But she told them to. Told them it was the only way to stop me.” He laughed, but there was no humor. He looked up then, meeting Rhys’ stare. “Do you know what her last words were, Rhys?” He asked. Rhys shook his head. 

 “ _‘Dad, you’re an asshole.’_ ”

 Rhys let the words sink in, feeling himself flinch back a bit. Jack shook his head and returned to looking ahead of him. 

“I mean, I _know_ I’m an asshole. But when your daughter says it… with her dying breaths…” 

 Jack furrowed his brow, his fists clenching tightly. Rhys probably should have said something, probably should have done something but he just sat there. Watching Jack with a look of pity and concern. 

 Jack seemed to suddenly pop back, his demeanor changing so quickly it nearly gave Rhys whiplash. 

 “Well that’s my story. My darkest secret.” He leaned back and placed an arm on the back of the couch, resting it behind Rhys. He was smiling, but it was… unnerving. It was too big. And it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “See, cupcake, I’ve lost so _damn_ much in my life. So many people betrayed me- even my own _daughter_.” 

 He laughed then, and the sound sent a chill down Rhys’ spine. 

 “When you pulled me out of your head and damned me to that empty _fucking_ abyss of _nothing_ , I vowed then and there if or when I ever saw you again I was going to kill you.” 

 Rhys stiffened at the confession, his breath catching in his throat. 

 “But when I saw you again- saw you acting all fuckin’ cute and flustered like usual, I thought I’d humor you for a while. And then you asked about my daughter. Made me think. Made me realize that _maybe_ it would be nice to have something go _right_ for _once_ in my goddamn life.”

 Rhys was _shaking_. He wasn’t the one being vulnerable and sharing his life yet he was the one who felt nervous. Jack had been staring at a wall, not looking at Rhys. But he suddenly turned his gaze, staring straight into Rhys’ _soul_. Rhys gulped. Jack’s smile grew. 

 “So whaddya say, Rhysie? Wanna put the past behind us and start over?” 

 Rhys couldn’t answer. He was unable to find his voice. Because _yes_ he wanted to start over. It was the whole reason he brought Jack back- it was a vain _dream_ that Jack would _actually_ want to start over. 

 Rhys couldn’t quite believe what Jack was saying. He was in complete and utter shock. 

 Instead, Rhys nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Jack. 

 Jack chuckled and leaned forward a bit. 

 “Then let’s start from the beginning, shall we?” He cleared his throat and leaned back. “I’m Handsome _goddamn_  Jack. King and part-time Hero, ” he arched a brow at Rhys. “And you are?” 

 Rhys was stunned and confused. He had no idea what was going on. But the sudden change in attitude made Rhys’ stomach flutter with an unfamiliar feeling. He stuttered a bit, but finally found his voice. 

“Uh… Rhys…?” It came out more as a question, but Jack didn’t seem to mind. Instead he chuckled again and leaned forward, suddenly _too close_. Jack’s holographic nose phased through Rhys’ own nose. Rhys’ breath hitched in his throat.

“Nice to meet you, _Rhysie_.” He purred, emphasizing the nickname. Rhys released a slow and shaky breath. 

 “I think we’re going to be _great_ friends.” Jack said, staring into Rhys’ eyes, practically _devouring_ Rhys with his stare, and Rhys couldn’t help but shudder. But before Rhys could even fully comprehend what had just happened, or whatever the _fuck_  his racing heartbeat meant, Jack disappeared. 

 Rhys sat on the couch and released a few shaky breaths. 

 “ _What the fuck?”_

 

~

 

  Jack was no stranger to feelings. 

 He had felt a lot of things in his life, mostly anger and betrayal, feelings he had grown _entirely_ too used to. 

 But he knew how to play with feelings as well. 

 It was a dick move. Probably would only cause him trouble in the end. But there was no way in _hell_ Jack was going to return to that black pit of nothingness. 

 And Jack hadn’t _entirely_ lied to Rhys. Jack really was getting tired of not having anyone on his side and things falling apart around him. 

 Rhys had once trusted him. 

 And Jack was positive he could gain that trust back. 

 Jack needed to insure his safety, because he had already seen Rhys _gouge out his fucking eye_ just to get rid of Jack once. Jack was sure Rhys would do it again, if push came to shove. So fighting and arguing with Rhys would get him no where. 

 No, Jack needed Rhys to trust him completely. 

 Needed Rhys to believe in him wholeheartedly.

 And Jack liked the kid. So there was that. He was fucking _brutal_ if he needed to be. And Jack could see something inside of Rhys. Something dark. Jack assumed with a big enough push, Rhys could unleash that. The possibility of Rhys pulling off someone else’s own cybernetic arm, or, hell, crashing down _another_ space station… it was an exciting thought, to say the least. 

 If Jack played his cards right, he wouldn’t only have a secured and safe place to stay, but he would have a murderous weapon in the palm of his hands. Jack and Rhys, they could be _fucking kings_.

 And Jack couldn’t _wait_ for their time to shine. 

 

~

 

 Rhys had tried to block the events of the previous night out of his mind. But, instead, his thoughts kept returning to it. 

 His emotions were everywhere, and his mind kept returning to one simple thing jack had said. 

_“It would be nice to have something go right for once in my goddamn life.”_

 It took Rhys all night to accept that Jack had been referring to Rhys with that. (Rhys had _definitely_ not been able to sleep after that. His mind had been _way_ too preoccupied) 

 So Jack wanted to start over with Rhys and try to be… friends?

That thought alone made Rhys feel light headed. 

 He knew Jack had mood swings but this was _ridiculous_. 

 Barely a week ago Jack wanted to stuff and endoskeleton inside of him and tried to strangle him with _Rhys’ own hand_. 

 Suddenly Jack flipped a switch and was all buddy-buddy. 

 Had the “abyss” Jack had gone to been that bad? Or maybe he was planning something…

 Rhys just couldn’t wrap his mind around Jack’s sudden change. Not that he was necessarily complaining. There wasn’t a constant threat of death hanging over him any longer, so he was able to rest easy with that. 

 And Rhys was _definitely_ not going to acknowledge the strange… _feelings_ he had gotten just from Jack’s tone and the way he looked at him. 

 Nope. He had locked _that_  memory in the depths of his brain never to see the light of day again. He didn’t need that in his life at the moment. 

 Rhys decided to push all thoughts of Jack away for the moment and instead thought about his arm he would be getting later that day. He was very excited for that. The lack of an arm was getting rather annoying, and also he _really_ wanted to try out the finger gun. 

 Rhys grinned as he made his way into the kitchen, looking for some breakfast, his mind thinking about his arm and all the new upgardes he couldn’t wait to try out.

 

 ~

 

 A week had passed after Rhys’ arm was attached, and he had never been so thankful for having two arms. Being able to use to hands was an absolute _gift_ that he was never going to take advantage of again.

 Jack had been strangely quiet throughout the week. Even when Rhys had gotten his arm, Jack had only showed up for a moment, complementing him on it and asking with a _very_ suggestive tone if “it had a nice grip.” 

 Aside from that his appearances had become almost rare. A little pop up here and there. 

 But that was it. 

 There had been no more deep conversations. No mention of what they had talked about. 

 Not that Rhys cared. Nope. He definitely did _not_ care about Jack’s appearances. 

 Rhys had other things to worry about. 

 Like what Moxxi was currently telling him.

 “ _The_ _Children of Helios_?” Rhys repeated her statement, she nodded, moving her weight onto one leg with a hand on her hip. 

 “It’s only rumors. And no one seems to know where they’ve been hiding out at.” Moxxi sighed and leaned on the bar. 

 Timothy was standing by Rhys with his arms crossed over his chest. Rhys looked up at him. 

 “Did you already know about this?” Rhys asked. Timothy scratched his growing beard, slowly nodding. 

 “Moxxi had called me about it when she first found out but… we needed more information.” Timothy sighed and shook his head. “We _still_ need more information. All there is currently are rumors and supposed sightings.” 

 Rhys hummed in thought. He assumed they would be living in the ruins of Helios but… pieces of Helios were scattered _everywhere_. It would take way too long to scout every area. 

 They could try to find more information. Maybe even find the group themselves. 

 But they were grasping at straws. And Rhys wasn’t exactly sure if they would react well to seeing him. He had been the one to bring down Helios in the first place. Would they attack him on sight? 

 He heard Timothy shift, moving to sit in the barstool next to Rhys and pulling him from his thoughts. Moxxi moved closer to Timothy, grabbing his chin and looking at his beard. When Rhys had met Timothy he had only just begun growing the beard. His facial hair had been dark and full, but now it had grown into a thick beard. Timothy smiled fondly down at Moxxi. 

“The beard’s looking nice on you, sugar. I like it.” She looked at him fondly, letting her hand rest on his cheek for longer than needed, before she shook her head and retracted her hand. She looked away from Timothy and mumbled something about “needing to restock the drinks” then disappeared to the back of the bar. Timothy watched her go, a sad look in his eyes and his posture visibly deflating. 

 Rhys raised an eyebrow, nudging Timothy in the side. 

 “Wanna tell me what _that_ was about?” Rhys asked, and Timothy only sighed. 

 “It’s nothing…” Timothy mumbled, grabbing the forgotten beer he had ordered and downing the rest of it. He slammed the bottle down with a bit more force than necessary, then stood from the stool, and marched out of the bar. The door slammed shut behind him and Rhys flinched. 

 There had definitely been something between Moxxi and Timothy but Rhys had no desire to get in the middle of _that_ drama. Rhys stood from his own stool and made his way out of the bar, his mind wondering about the Children of Helios.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack is an manipulative asshole but I still love him.
> 
> Also next chapter will have a pretty big time skip. And even more plot. Yayyy. 
> 
> And thank you guys so much for all the kudos and comments! You guys are awesome. I’m glad you’re all enjoying my little story.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty big chapter. A lot of stuff happens so buckle up, kiddos.

 Rhys and Timothy had been scouting the areas around Sanctuary, in search for any news about the Children of Helios. 

 It had been three months since Rhys had first arrived at sanctuary. Three months since they first heard of the children of Helios. 

 Three months of _nothing_. 

 Rhys had begun to believe that that’s all they were- a rumor. 

 Nevertheless they continued their search. It gave Rhys something to do aside from wallowing in self pity. Which he had begun to do a lot more often. 

 Rhys found that he _really_ missed his Hyperion days. He missed the environment. Missed the cleanliness. 

 Rhys absolutely _loathed_ Pandora. After spending so long on it, his hatred for the planet only grew. 

 He was mostly tired of the _damn bandits._

They were so persistent. And most of the time they didn’t even have a motive. They just attacked you because they felt like it. 

 The first few trips off of sanctuary had been rough on Rhys. He had been nervous and simply hid behind Timothy while Timothy dealt with them. Timothy more often than not was able to deal with them without killing them. He would wound them, leave them bleeding, but he preferred not to kill if he didn’t have to. 

 Rhys found himself thinking that Timothy’s lack of violence is what left him with a missing eye, but he never said that out loud. 

 Jack had been the one to push Rhys.

 He had claimed, “You need to grow a pair and fucking _shoot_. Show those bandits who’s boss, baby.” 

 It wasn’t too long after that when Rhys shot and killed his first bandit. 

 Timothy had been dealing with one, hitting them in the head with his gun and successfully knocking them to the ground. Meanwhile, another that had completely escaped their notice was running towards Rhys from behind him. Rhys had swung around just in time, simply on instinct, and shot them in the head. 

 Timothy had stared in shock, staring down at the body with a bit of remorse, before turning away from the scene completely and ignoring it. Rhys had felt guilty for a moment, but pushed that aside and moved forward. 

 And that had been that. 

 After that it became easier to just _shoot_. He would aim for legs and arms- places that wouldn’t fatally wound, but that was tedious. Nevertheless, he continued with his non-lethal shots. It was easier on his conscious.

 Jack had begun to show himself more often during the three months. At first it wasn’t much, but after the first month Jack practically never left. He was always there, always commenting, always _watching_. 

 Rhys found that he enjoyed the company, as much as he hated to admit it. 

 Rhys had been about to shoot a bandit in the leg, but was interrupted by Jack’s commentary. 

 “ _Ugh_  you’re getting so boring with these wounding shots. Go for the head, for once. Make it interesting.”

 Rhys contemplated that, for a moment. It was tempting… 

 Evidently he had contemplated a moment too long. The bandit came crashing on top of Rhys, knocking him to the ground and swinging a knife in his face. Rhys couldn’t find it in him to be scared. He was just annoyed. 

 Rhys was just  _so fucking tired of bandits._

 Rhys held his metal hand up to the bandit’s shoulder and shot, flinching slightly at the scream of pain that elicited. Rhys pushed the bandit off of him, shooting him in the knee _just_ in case, and causing him to yelp in even more pain. Rhys stepped over the bandit, ignoring his painful sobs and the burning in his arm. 

 Rhys made his way back over to Timothy, who had his own share of blood on his hands. Timothy met Rhys’ stare and sighed. He wiped his bloody hands on his pants and looked in the direction of Sanctuary. 

 “We should probably head back,” he commented. Rhys nodded and turned to walk towards the fast travel station, but suddenly stopped when he heard a determined shout. He turned his head just in time to see Timothy punch another bandit in the face, knocking her down. Timothy had walked away from the bandit, placing a hand on Rhys’ shoulder and trying to push him away. But Rhys wasn’t having it. He pushed passed Timothy’s arm, walking ahead to the bandit Timothy had knocked down. 

 “Kid, What the _hell_ are you doing?”

 Rhys ignored Timothy, standing right in front of the bandit. She kneeled on the ground, her nose bleeding from Timothy’s punch, and a hand held over it to stop the bleeding. She glanced up at Rhys with a sneer. 

 Rhys glared down at her with an even harder stare. Jack appeared beside Rhys, his arms crossed as he watched the scene play out with an amused grin. 

 “What do you _want_?” Rhys asked, his voice hard and demanding. He was so _tired_ of bandits. He was tired of Pandora in general. 

 The bandit squirmed a bit, trying to get to her feet. He heard Jack speak up from his side. “C’mon, cupcake. Don’t let her get up.”

 Rhys snarled and pulled out his pistol, putting the barrel to her temple. 

 “ _What do you want?_ ” Rhys asked again, unable to contain his anger any longer. The bandit stared up in fear, her breaths coming out shallow and shaky. 

 Rhys refused to acknowledge the fact that he almost _enjoyed_ the sight. 

 The bandit stuttered a few times and Rhys found himself wondering how old she was. She looked young. At least early twenties. Probably had a family. 

 He couldn’t bring himself to care anymore.

 “W-we…I…I’m just trying to make a living…” she glanced around at the unmoving bodies surrounding her. “I… I’m sorry.” She finally admitted.

 Rhys let out a bitter laugh. 

 “By _killing us_? We’re trying to make a living too, you know. It’s kind of difficult to when bandit… _scum_  like you keep attacking us.” He didn’t sound angry anymore. Just tired. He was so tired. Of _everything_. 

 He felt Timothy place a hand on his shoulder and tensed at the feeling. 

 “Rhys, lower the gun,” Timothy said calmly. Rhys only tightened his grip on it. 

 “Don’t listen to him, pumpkin. Shoot her. Shoot her fucking brains out. Teach her a _lesson_ ,” Jack was suddenly closer to Rhys, standing directly on the other side of Timothy. “Show her that _nobody_ messes with Rhysie.” 

 Rhys stared down at the girl. She was terrified. He looked at his gun, watched as it glinted in the sunlight. 

 He had Timothy on one side, telling him to let her go. Jack on the other telling him to shoot. 

 An angel and a devil. 

 But Rhys could no longer tell which was which. 

 All Rhys knew was that he was tired and _fucking annoyed_. He growled in annoyance and pulled the trigger, blinded for a moment by pure adrenaline. It wasn’t until he saw her dead body lying in a dark puddle of her own blood did he realize what he had done. 

 And even then he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

 Jack gave Rhys an almost adoring grin. 

 Timothy looked away, turning his head away from the scene. 

 Rhys watched Timothy’s retreating back and felt only a small bubble of regret. He swallowed and followed after Timothy, wiping off a bit of blood that had splattered on his cheek.

 

~

 

 “What the hell was that for, Rhys?” Tim confronted Rhys as soon as they had gotten back to Sanctuary. Rhys glanced over to Timothy, quickly looking away and began walking. Timothy grabbed Rhys’ shoulder and held him back. Rhys sighed. 

 “Look- I’m sorry, okay. I’m just so fed up with all of this. All of these bandits are getting on my nerves and I just-” Rhys took a moment to slow down his breathing, trying to calm down. He was too worked up. And he needed a nap. Timothy tightened his grip a bit on Rhys’ shoulder, giving him a scrutinizing stare, before finally letting him go with a sigh. 

 “I’m heading over to Moxxi’s. I’ll update her on the situation.” Timothy said. Rhys almost snorted. 

  _It’ll be an awfully short status update_.

Rhys thought to himself, walking away from Timothy. They had once again found nothing. Every sighting of the group held the same information- and none of it was useful anymore. 

 All they knew was that the group was led by a short, masked person. And that they usually travelled in small groups. Never staying in one area for too long, never saying much. 

 It was getting on Rhys’ nerves. 

 Rhys made his way back to Moxxi’s house, which he was still staying at. Though Timothy didn’t go there much often anymore. He slept in his borrowed lab more often than not, only popping up at Moxxi’s house every now and then to talk to Rhys. And Rhys barely ever saw Moxxi in her own house. She spent most of her time at the bar. Rhys wondered if she ever even slept. 

 “That was some show down there, cupcake.” Jack commented as Rhys sat down on Moxxi’s couch. Rhys grunted in response. He didn’t really feel like talking. 

 “How was it?” Jack persisted, leaning in by Rhys’ head from the back of the couch. “Having her at your mercy like that- shooting her brains out like she _deserved_.” 

 Rhys scrunched up his nose. 

“Gross,” he responded, looking down at his now stained shirt. “It was gross. And she stained my shirt.” 

 Jack groaned in annoyance. 

“Not what I meant. I _meant_ , how did it _feel_? Having her life in your hands?” 

 Rhys thought for a moment. In all honesty he hadn’t felt much of anything. Mostly annoyance. There had been a moment- a fleeting, tiny moment where it had felt… _good_. But Rhys ignored that feeling. He finally shrugged in response to Jack’s query and stood up from the couch. 

 “I’m going to take a shower. I’d appreciate it if I could do that _alone_.” Rhys gave a pointed glare to Jack, who simply smirked.

“Mmm I make no promises, kiddo. There’s no telling when I’ll pop up.” With that, Jack blinked away, and Rhys sighed in exasperation. 

 The first thing Rhys noticed as he entered the bathroom and looked at the mirror was his hair. His hair had grown quite a bit, and with his lack of hair gel that he had back on Helios, it was a frizzy and curly mess. Rhys ran his metal hand through it, staring at the reflection of his tired eyes. 

 He looked like shit. 

 There was still a bit of smeared blood on his cheek. He brought up his felsh hand to the smear, rubbing it off. He stared at his now red-stained fingers, and just couldn’t bring himself to feel any sort of remorse for the girl he’d killed. 

 He couldn’t feel _anything_ about it, really. 

 And that made him confused and annoyed with himself. 

 He tore his eyes from his reflection, a bubble of self loathing growing in the pit of his stomach, and began undressing. He was able to get his shirt off before nearly having a heart attack. 

 “Ya know, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that tattoo on your arm.” 

 Jack’s voice rang through the bathroom and caused Rhys to stumble backwards, his back hitting the door. He hissed in pain, pushing himself off of the door and shooting a glare towards Jack’s smug face. 

 “What the hell are you doing in here?” Rhys asked, holding his shirt to his bare chest in an attempt to cover himself. 

 Jack shrugged. 

 “Like I said, pumpkin. I’m just sporadic like that.” Jack stared down at Rhys’ chest, his eyes scanning down Rhys’ flesh arm. Rhys bit his lip and adjusted his hold on his shirt. 

 “So you gonna tell me about that tattoo?”

 Rhys rolled his eyes and stared down at his arm, eyeing the blue tattoo that started at his chest and flowed down his arm. He sighed. 

“It was just some dumb drunk decision back in college. I thought it would look cool.” He shrugged and tiredly stared back at Jack. Jack licked his lips. 

 “Well it was definitely a  _good_ decision, cupcake. It looks great on you.” His eyes were hungrily staring at Rhys, and in any other circumstance Rhys might have been flustered by it. 

 But Rhys was just too tired to care. 

 That didn’t change the way his heart had lurched at Jack’s comment, however. 

 “Jack, what are you doing?” Rhys asked. Jack shot him a questioning look. 

 “Uh, _complimenting_ you?” 

 “That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Rhys responded. He crossed his arms over his chest, the cool metal from his cybernetic arm sent a chill through his warm body. “What are trying to accomplish here?” 

 Jack’s eyes were unreadable. He stayed silent for a moment before smiling and leaning towards Rhys. 

 “What? Just trying to be friendly-“ 

“ _Bullshit_.” 

 Jack looked taken aback. Rhys used that to his advantage. 

 “All the flirting and comments- the tiptoeing around me- it’s _annoying_. And for _once_ I’d like to just have _five minutes_ to myself.” 

 Jack didn’t respond. He stared at Rhys with an unreadable expression. Then after a moment he just disappeared. And Rhys finally released a sigh of relief. 

 Jack was going to sulk. And Rhys couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

~

 

 Rhys woke up to his ECHOeye chiming. It was way too early for that. Rhys blinked his eyes open, the notification of Timothy’s incoming call flashing in his sight. He accepted the call with a yawn. 

 “What is it, Tim…” Rhys asked as Timothy’s blue figure came into view. Rhys rubbed the sleep from his other eye, running a hand through his tangled hair. 

 Timothy didn’t bother with a greeting. Or an explanation, really. Just got right to the point.

 “We have a lead.” 

 Rhys shot up at that, suddenly fully awake. 

 “Wait, wha-“ Rhys tried, but Timothy interrupted. 

 “They’re hiding out north. We don’t have the exact coordinates, but it’s close,” Timothy paused, his lips forming a thin line. “We’re heading down soon to investigate. So be ready.” 

 And with that, Timothy’s figure disappeared, disconnecting the call and leaving Rhys in shock. Rhys stayed in his bed for a moment, thinking about what he had just been told. 

  _They had a location_. 

 Rhys suddenly threw his blanket off and stood from the bed, rushing to get ready- the situation suddenly hitting him with full force.

 They had finally found them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #letrhyssleep


	10. Chapter 10

 As fate would have it, Rhys and Timothy had indeed _not_ found the Children of Helios.

 Instead, the Children of Helios had found _them_. 

 They hadn’t been down on Pandora for long- following the vague coordinates they had been given- when they had been suddenly covered with red dots. 

 Timothy and Rhys had immediately stopped in their tracks, their hands going up in surrender. Claptrap, who had _insisted_ on joining them, shouted _“Oh sh[BEEP]!”_ , which had been sensored with a rather comedic beep, then hid behind Timothy’s legs. 

 Rhys shot Timothy a worried glance, and Timothy only returned the look. 

 “I leave you for five minutes, and you somehow get yourself in trouble.” Jack tsked as he appeared to Rhys’ left. Rhys gave Jack a glare. He was really _not_ in the mood to deal with him. 

 “I’m trying to save you, dickhead. Show some appreciation,” Jack scanned the area, stopping at one of the snipers located on an elevated area. He pointed at them. “Try scanning the gun. See if you can hack them before they start shooting.” 

 Rhys rolled his eyes and activated his ECHOeye, scanning through the bits of rock that were blocking the sniper. He scanned the person’s form, trying to scan for the weapon, but found that they were _not_ holding a sniper rifle. 

 They were holding a _laser pointer_. 

 “Uh, Tim,” Rhys whispered towards Timothy, trying to get his attention. Timothy glanced at him. “They aren’t holding weapons, they’re holding-” Rhys attempted to warn Timothy but instead was interrupted by a sudden voice. 

 “Rhys?”

 Rhys turned his attention towards the voice, finding the supposed masked leader walking out from behind cover. He held his arm up to tell the _not-really-snipers_  to hold fire, then slowly made his way towards Rhys. 

 “Uh, short-masked-man?” Rhys responded in confusion. How the _hell_ did they know Rhys’ name? 

 The masked man stopped once he was right in front of Rhys, and only then did he take off the mask. 

 Rhys’ eyes widened in shock when he realized who it was. 

 “ _Vaughn_?” Rhys said in disbelief. “Holy shit, bro, I thought you were _dead_!” Rhys reached down and wrapped his arms around the smaller man, lifting him up for a hug. Vaughn gladly returned it. 

 “Bro, I thought  _you_ were dead!” Vaughn said as Rhys put him down. Rhys laughed, a wide smile on his face. He was beyond happy to see his best friend again. 

 Vaughn turned his attention towards the other people, holding his hand in the air once more and waving. 

 “You can put the laser pointers away, they’re friends!” He shouted. Timothy gave Rhys a confused look. 

 “ _Laser pointers_?” Timothy mouthed to Rhys as he lowered his arms. Rhys shrugged in response, then put a hand on Vaughn’s shoulder to get his attention, gesturing to Timothy. 

 “This is Timothy, he saved me after…” Rhys left the sentence trail off, his gaze moving to the Children of Helios that were slowly beginning to form around them. Vaughn smiled at Timothy. 

 “Nice to meet you Timothy, thank you for saving my best friend. Also you look _strangely_ familiar…” Vaughn scratched at his beard, which Rhys had to admit, looked awesome on him. Timothy shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. 

“Yeah, I uh, used to be Handsome Jack’s body double.” 

 Vaughn’s eyes lit up in recognition.

 “ _Oh_. Yeah. Yeah that makes sense.” Vaughn studied Tim’s form, a smile slowly forming on his face. “Really digging the beard, man.” Vaughn held his fist up to Timothy, who glanced at it with an arched brow and a mildly amused smile, before bumping his own fist with Vaughn’s. 

 “Right back at you.” Timothy responded. Vaughn grinned as he turned away, his attention turned to the growing group of the Children behind them. A few had started bowing, which Rhys watched in disbelief. Some just gawked. Rhys nudged Vaughn’s side. 

 “They _really_ respect you, dude.” Rhys commented, eyebrows raised as he gestured to the ones bowing. Vaughn sighed. 

 “Yeah _that_ … that’s not for me.” 

 Rhys gave him a confused look to which Vaughn only shook his head in response. 

“I’ll explain on the way,” Vaughn sighed once more, before rounding up the Children, and gesturing for Tim, Rhys, and Claptrap to follow him. 

 

~

 

 “Wait, _what_?” Rhys nearly choked on his own spit at what Vaughn was telling him. He shook his head. Surely he had misheard that. 

 “Yeah, it’s a little weird, I know.” Vaughn responded. 

 “‘ _Little_ ’ doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Rhys blinked a few times processing the information. He looked up at the Children walking by them, noticing their quick glances and awe-struck stares.

 “We’ll it’s just, in their eyes, you _freed_ them. You’re like a god to them, bro. Believe it or not, you’re what gets some of these people through the day.” Vaughn’s words made Rhys light headed. It was a lot to take in. 

 Jack had appeared at some point, Rhys wasn’t sure when, but he made his presence known with a snort. 

 “ _Ha_! Rhys, a _god_. That- that is _priceless_.” 

 Rhys refused to acknowledge Jack and instead focused on the giant piles of debris and rock they were heading towards. Vaughn began climbing over a piece of debris, and Rhys followed suit. 

 “So three months, huh?” Vaugh asked as they climbed. They pulled themselves over the debris and Rhys nodded, stepping over a rock as they continued on. 

 “Yeah, you guys are just _really_ well hidden, apparently.” 

 Vaughn chuckled, waking under a fallen sheet of metal. Rhys had to duck under it. 

 “Well it’s not that we’re purposefully hiding. If people knew where to search they’d find us,” with that, Vaughn stepped to the side, allowing Rhys to see the remnants of Helios scattered across the land. 

Rhys stared in awe. He felt a lot of emotions at once. Guilt and relief being the main two- but both for different reasons. It was most certainly a relief finally finding the Children of Helios. But Rhys still felt guilty for what had happened. The guilt of course had fizzed down over the months, but there was still a bit of it in the pit of his stomach. Guilty for _what_ exactly, Rhys had lost track of. Originally it had been for all the people who had died. Who he had _killed_ , but that had quickly numbed and turned to guilt for destroying his home. It was a sad sight, really. Seeing Helios broken and buried in the ground. 

 Jack was uncharacteristically quiet at the sight. Rhys turned to glance at him, to see a reaction, only to see his lips set in a firm line, his eyes hard and unreadable as they stared ahead at the wreckage.

 Rhys followed Vaughn down a slope and towards the wreckage, barely noticing Jack suddenly appear next to him, his previous silence all but forgotten. 

 “As much as I love this reunion with your, hah, _little_ friend,” Jack snickered at his own joke. Rhys rolled his eyes. “I need to talk to you when we get the chance, Muffin. One on one.” 

 Rhys blinked, raising a brow not at the implication of a private conversation later, but at the new nickname. “ _Muffin_?” Rhys mouthed with distaste evident on his features. Jack grinned. 

 “Gotta keep things interesting, _Muffin_. Change things up a bit.” He wiggled his eyebrows and Rhys simply rolled his eyes in response. 

 Jack disappeared after that, leaving Rhys to wonder what _exactly_ he wanted to talk about. Whatever it was, would have to wait. Rhys still had some things he wanted to talk to Vaughn about. 

“So, uh, dumb question- but seeing as a rather large chunk of Helios survived, did my tie collection happen to-“

“I found three ties in decent shape. Trust me, it was what I first went looking for.” Vaughn grinned up at his buddy. “Your Hyperion Yellow one, your light blue one- though that one’s a little on the burnt side- and your magenta one.” 

 Rhys sighed in minor relief, so at least some of his ties were okay. Maybe, with some luck, he could scrounge up a decent outfit. 

 “And, uh, what about-“ 

 “Your socks sadly did not make it,” Vaughn interrupted Rhys, giving him a sad smile before stepping over a rock. Rhys deflated, looking down to the ground in disappointment, only to spot Vaughn’s socks peeking out from under his pants. But they weren’t _Vaughn’s_ socks- they were Rhys’ favorite pair of socks that had mini spiderants on them.

 “ _Dude_! You’re _wearing_ my socks!” 

 

 ~

 

 Vaughn had showed Rhys around the base, which was a pretty damn decent chunk of Helios. They had pretty much everything they needed- housing, labs, even some of the medbay had made it. 

 Vaughn had also shown Rhys the statue in his honor, which was actually just one of Handsome Jack’s statues with his head broken off and “Rhys” written across the chest in red paint. 

 It was an interesting sight to say the least. 

 “So you’re a god, now,” Jack’s voice came to life as Rhys looked around the room Vaughn had let him use. Rhys wasn’t sure how long Timothy had planned on staying, but Rhys _really_ wanted a nap, and also Jack wanted to talk, so Vaughn had been kind enough to let him stay in one of the apartment rooms that had survived. It wasn’t in perfect condition, there were cracks in the walls and the fake window that let in artificial sunlight into the room was shattered, revealing the true black screen that it was. Rhys acknowledged Jack’s statement with an awkward shrug. Jack followed Rhys as he wondered around the small room, taking what all was left in the room.

 “And how’s _that_ feel? Having them worship you like some deity.” 

 Rhys furrowed his brows in thought as he set down the picture frame he had been looking at. It was a family photo, but the glass was completely shattered. The photo showed a man, a woman, and a child in an area Rhys couldn’t quite place, but there was a lot of green in the background. Probably one of the Edens. Rhys briefly wondered if the worker survived the crash. He moved away from the photo and plopped down on the couch, thinking of how to answer Jack’s question. 

 “It’s… overwhelming.” Rhys decided to respond with. Which was true, it was something he hadn’t been expecting _at all_. He had expected the remaining ex-Hyperion workers to kill him as soon as they saw him.

 But it felt… good. It was a nice feeling to be looked up to, treated like royalty. Rhys smiled at the thought. 

 “ _Oh-ho-ho_ , that smiles says it all,” Jack sat on the couch next to Rhys, one arm slinging over the back to rest behind Rhys’ head. 

“Yeah, I know that feeling. But _that_ isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about,” Rhys picked up another picture frame, one that had been knocked over on the coffee table. It didn’t seem too damaged like the other, just the frame around the photo was a bit loose. The photo itself was of a little girl with dark hair pulled into pigtails. Her bright blue eyes almost matched the eyes of Jack’s daughter Rhys had seen in the photo back at Jack’s office. Rhys hummed in thought, waiting for Jack to continue. “What I wanted to talk about was your _not-so-secret_ crush on me.” 

 Rhys dropped the picture in surprise, the glass shattering. Rhys cursed, jumping up from the couch to pick up broken pieces of glass. He avoided looking at Jack. 

 “I-I… I don’t have a ‘ _crush_ ’ on you. I’m not twelve.” Rhys responded, setting the photo itself back on the coffee table, with one last thoughtful glance towards it, before scurrying to the kitchen with the shards of glass in his hands. Jack chuckled. 

 “ _Uh-huh_. Sure. Look, Muffin, let’s be honest here,” Rhys dumped the glass into the trash bin in the kitchen, wiping his hands off on his dirty and blood-stained shirt. Jack watched him from the couch with an amused grin. “I’m _Handsome Jack_. It’d be weirder if you _didn’t_ have a crush on me.” 

 Rhys stared down at his hands as they twisted into the bottom hem of his shirt, still avoiding looking at Jack. “I may have… _once_ had a crush on you. When I was younger. Before actually _meeting_ you.” Rhys finally looked up, his metal arm forming a tight ball in his shirt. He worried at his lower lip as he waited for Jack to respond. 

 Jack stood up from the couch, chuckling as he made his way towards Rhys. 

 “Hmm what was it you said? ‘ _the flirting and comments- the tiptoeing around_ ,’” Jack stood in front of Rhys, and while he was about an inch or two shorter than Rhys, Rhys suddenly felt so small by him. This was _not_ a conversation he wanted to have. And the grin Jack was giving him was definitely not helping the situation. “Well, this is me being straightforward, kiddo. No more tiptoeing around you.” 

 Rhys turned away from Jack, his face flushed and his mind reeling. He combed a hand nervously through his hair. How many times had he imagined Handsome Jack approaching him in similar ways back when he was on Helios? Back when it was just a _fantasy_. He had assumed those feelings for Jack were gone, but evidently they weren’t. Rhys drew in a shaky breath, slowly turning back around to face Jack. 

 “We’re both adults here,” Jack said. He tilted his head to one side. “So let me ask you this: do you or do you not want Handsome Jack to fuck you?” 

 Rhys choked on air, coughing and sputtering as he tried to regain his posture. He blinked a few times, trying to register what Jack said. He was silent, refusing to meet Jack’s gaze in favor of looking around the room. Jack, apparently, wasn’t having that. Before Rhys could comprehend what was happening, Jack suddenly began to take control of his metal arm, causing a sudden bubble of fear to burst in Rhys’ chest. He stared wide eyed at his right hand, shaking his head as he felt himself slowly loosing control over the cybernetic. 

“Jack what are you-“ 

 “Relax, cupcake. I’m not gonna hurt you,” Jack moved the hand to Rhys’ chin, metal digits digging into the skin but not in an uncomfortable way. He forced Rhys’ head to look at him. Jack stared down at him with a smirk.

 “Now are you gonna answer the question?” 

 Rhys blinked up at Jack, his mouth suddenly dry and his face burning up. He opened his mouth to respond, only to shut it quickly. He did that a few times, only managing a mumbled “I…” before his ECHOeye started chiming. Rhys thanked _whatever_ god there was for the interruption. A message from Timothy appeared in his vision, saying that there was something going on and he needed to meet back up with Vaughn. Rhys sighed in relief at the momentary distraction. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

 “Uh, sorry to cut… whatever  _this_ is short but I uh… gotta go.” 

 Jack sighed and released his control of Rhys’ arm, giving Rhys full control of it. Rhys flexed his metal wrist experimentally, holding onto the arm with his flesh one. Jack looked Rhys up and down, his grin never once faltering. 

 “That’s alright, pumpkin. I got the answer I needed.” 

 With that, Jack disappeared, leaving a very confused and flustered Rhys. 


	11. Chapter 11

  Rhys walked down the hallway with his thoughts still preoccupied by Jack. He had thought those days were over, but as it seemed, Jack just wouldn’t leave his mind.  

What was Jack even trying to _gain_ from that conversation? Even if Rhys had said yes to Jack’s question (which he would sooner jump into a Rakk nest than admit that to Jack’s face) it’s not as if Jack could do anything about it. He was a _hologram_. 

  _Maybe_ Rhys had thought about Jack in a few _certain_ ways. But it’s not like Rhys thought that would ever actually happen. And Rhys had just assumed Jack’s flirting was the extent of their relationship- harmless nicknames and flirting that led to nothing. Yes Rhys had called Jack out on it but it’s not like he expected anything to come out of it. Rhys had just been so fed up at the moment and the words had kinda just came out. Evidently Jack took the words to heart. 

 Whatever their relationship was- it was fucking _weird_ , that much Rhys knew for sure.

 With a sigh, Rhys forced all thoughts of Jack aside and made his way towards Timothy, who stood at the end of the hallway leaning against the wall by a closed door with his arms crossed. He gave Rhys a nod in greeting. 

 “What’s going on?” Rhys asked, glancing at the door Timothy stood outside of. Timothy sighed and shrugged. 

 “I’m not entirely sure. Vaughn mentioned something about Fiona? Does that name ring any bells for you?” 

 Rhys felt his blood run cold at the name. _Of course_ she would show up. “Yeah… I know her. Where is Vaughn now?” 

 Timothy nodded his head towards the room. “In there talking with her.” 

 Rhys walked past Timothy and hesitantly opened the door to the room, his nerves suddenly on edge. He wasn’t quite sure how Fiona would react to seeing him, but something told him she wouldn’t be too happy. 

 In the room there was a table in the center, surrounded by monitors and other equipment. Rhys assumed it was an old meeting room. The table was covered in papers and a few cups and mugs scattered about. Vaughn stood on one end, a hand running through his hair and pulling a few strands loose from his bun. Fiona was pacing on the other end, anger practically radiating off of her. Rhys stood awkwardly at the enterance of the room, nervously clearing his throat to get their attention.

 Fiona’s head jerked towards him, her eyes burning into him with pure rage. 

“ _You_ ,” She said through clenched teeth, suddenly making her way towards Rhys. Vaughn tried to stop her but she ignored him. Rhys offered an awkward smile, trying to back away from her only for his his back hit the door. 

 “Uh, hi Fi-“ 

 There was a sudden pain in his left cheek as Fiona’s fist connected with his face, he hissed, feeling his ECHOeye to flare up with a bit of static at the impact. He blinked a few times to clear his vision back up, bringing his hand up to hold the no doubtably bruising cheek. 

 “ _You stupid piece of skag shit_!” Fiona was fuming, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. Rhys warily watched her hands, rubbing his cheek.  

“Okay, I probably deserved that but still, _what the hell_?” 

 Fiona shook her head and pulled her arm back, getting ready to punch him again, when Vaughn finally spoke up. 

 “Fiona, _enough_! I think he got the message after the first punch.” 

 Fiona exhaled harshly, slowly bringing her hand back down. Her angry stare never left Rhys. 

 Finally, after a few antagonizing moments of her stare boring into Rhys, she tore her glare from him and began pacing. 

 “I can’t believe you _betrayed_  us like that. And that whole thing with Handsome Jack- I don’t even wanna _know_.” Fiona visibly shuddered, stopping in front of Rhys with her back turned to him.

 “I didn’t betray you! I was trying to get back to you guys but Jack-“ Rhys tried to speak, but Fiona kept talking.

 “And then you bring the whole station down with _Sasha and me still on it_!” She turned back to Rhys, her gaze searching him, seemingly trying to find an answer in his reaction. 

 That did strike something within Rhys. He was suddenly angry. She wouldn’t even listen to him. Rhys puffed out his chest, pushing himself off of the door he had been cornered on and advancing towards Fiona. 

 “If you’d just let me fucking  _explain_ ,” Rhys said, his tall form towering above Fiona. She narrowed her eyes at him, but stayed silent. “I was trying to get back to you and Gortys with the upgrade. But Jack was trying to stuff an endoskeleton _inside of me_. And then he kinda took over the whole space station, and if I hadn’t have done something then there would have been a lot more death and destruction.” 

 The memories of that day filled Rhys a rage he didn’t know he had been concealing. He had finally formed some sort of trust with Jack, but suddenly it was like he ripped the bandaid off, and the memories and emotions from that day were flooding him like blood from a reopened wound. 

 Fiona looked taken aback, if only for a moment. She fixed her posture and stared up at him with a hard glare.

 “And _whose_ fault was it that Jack took over?” 

 Rhys growled in annoyance. He felt a strong need to shoot something. It was definitely a new feeling. He’d never felt the urge to just _shoot_ something before. He ran a shaky hand through his hair in exasperation. Vaughn had made his way between the two, keeping them apart.

“If you two are done with your little argument, we have more important things we need to discuss.” 

 Rhys and Fiona shared a glare, ultimately deciding to stop their arguing for the time being. Vaughn hesitantly moved away from them, back to the table where he had pictures of Gortys’ upgrades pulled up. Fiona followed behind him, heading back to where she was when Rhys had entered the room. 

 “So Fiona, were you able to find anything while you were out?” Rhys watched as the two talked as if nothing had just happened. He furrowed his brows in confusion at the conversation. 

 “Yes, actually, I found the last upgrade,” Fiona shot Rhys a quick glare before pulling out one of the Gortys upgrade pieces and placing it on the table. “It was a pain in the ass to find.” She crossed her arms over he chest and watched as Vaughn slowly picked up the piece. 

 Vaughn stared at the piece, a smile growing on his face. “Oh, man, LB’s gonna be _stoked_.” 

 Fiona shifted her weight, pushing a loose strand of hair out of her face while Vaughn admired the Gortys upgrade.

Rhys stood in confusion. “Uh, anyone wanna tell me what’s going on?” 

 Fiona shot him a glare. “No. No I don’t think I will.” She responded, looking away from him with a huff. Rhys sighed in annoyance and turned to Vaughn who offered an apologetic smile. 

 “Right, sorry,” Vaughn set the upgrade back on the table and changed the screen of the monitors to a white screen with plans and images of circled locations, Gortys, and the vault scattered across it. There was also an image of a giant monster, which Rhys could only assume was the gaurdian of the vault.

 “We’re bringing back Gortys!” Vaughn said, throwing his arms up in a _“surprise!”_ gesture. Rhys furrowed his brow in confusion.  

 “What happened to her in the first place?” 

 Rhys looked between the two, noticing Fiona’s immediate change in demeanor. Her shoulders visibly slouched, and her brows furrowed. Vaughn awkwardly cleared his throat. 

 “You, uh, don’t know?” He questioned. Rhys shook his head slowly. Vaughn coughed and scratched the back of his neck 

“Ah, I, uh, assumed it was just common knowledge by now. With how rumors spread on this planet-“ Vaughn explained, but was suddenly interrupted by Fiona. Her gaze was far away from them, though, staring at the opposite wall in seemingly deep thought. 

 “I destroyed her,” she said planly. Rhys gawked at her.

 “You _what_ -“ 

“I destroyed her because she told me to. She was scared and she knew she couldn’t win against the Traveler so she-“ Fiona took a shaky breath. “-so she told me to shoot her with a rocket launcher.” 

 Rhys stared wide eyed at Fiona, letting her confession sink in.

“Surely there was another way…” Rhys mumbled his thoughts aloud. Fiona laughed bitterly. 

 “Don’t you think I thought the same thing? Do you really think I _wanted_ to kill her?” She was finally looking at Rhys again, her anger gone and replaced with guilt. Rhys sighed and looked at the ground. 

 “No, I don’t think you wanted to kill her,” he bit his lower lip, debating on what to say next. “I’m sorry.” He ultimately decided to say. He wasn’t sure _what_ he was sort for. There were quite a few things he _should_ apologize for. He just felt so raw with emotions- so many feelings rushing through him. It felt like the right thing to say. 

 Fiona looked at him for a moment, and for a fleeting second, Rhys could see the familiarity in her eyes that she used to have with him, before it quickly disappeared, and she began walking out of the room. She purposefully nudged Rhys’ shoulder on her way out, but not in a hateful way, more in a _“I’m still a little pissed at you but welcome back,”_ kinda way. 

 Vaughn was the first to speak up after that scene, “I guess that means we’ll continue this meeting later.”

 Rhys turned back to Vaughn. “You wanna fill me in on what I missed? Because evidently it was _a lot_.” 

Vaughn sighed as he walked passed Rhys to the door. “Yeah, I’ll explain on the way. There’s a few other people here that I’m sure are as excited as Fiona is to see you.” Vaughn gave Rhys a pitying smile and Rhys groaned. 

“Oh boy…” Rhys mumbled as he walked out of the room, rubbing his sore cheek. 

 

~

_“I’ve never had the chance to talk to a Loader bot before, so this is very exciting for me! Most of them would ignore me and immediately start shooting at me when I would try to approach them. Not a good way to make a first impression”_

 Rhys could hear Claptrap’s voice from the hallway and it took all of his willpower not to roll his eyes. He already had a growing headache, the addition of Claptrap was only making it worse. 

_“But you look so different from the other loader bots- it’s kinda creepy! Did you go on a diet? Lose a lot of weight? Not saying you look bad but-”_

 Vaughn and Rhys turned a corner, Vaugh was in the middle of telling Rhys how he had gotten back into contact with Fiona and Sasha, but Rhys was only partly listening. He kept zoning out during Vaughn’s story- not that he wanted to, but Rhys was just tired. Which was a feeling he had grown rather accustomed to.

 Vaughn had told Rhys that Loader bot was at the base, and he had told him he looked different, but what Rhys saw was _definitely_ not what he had been expecting. 

 What greeted Rhys when they turned the corner was the very endoskeleton that Jack had threatened to shove into Rhys. 

 Rhys stopped abruptly at the sight, Timothy offering him a questioning glance as he walked by, and Vaughn chuckled. “Yeah, it took me off guard the first time I saw him too.” He stated, waking past Rhys and up to the group of people on the other side of the room. Rhys stared wide eyed at Loader bot for a moment longer, his attention only shifting when he heard Jack’s familiar voice. 

 “That jackhole took my _body_!” Jack said in near horror, his face was scrunched up in a mixture of anger and shock. Rhys cleared his throat, and slowly approached Loader bot. 

 “Uh, hey, bud.” Rhys commented when he was close enough to him. Loader bot turned his attention from Claptrap and waved a practically bony hand at Rhys. Rhys smiled hesitantly and continued, “Long time no see. Nice… body.” 

 Loader bot nodded his giant red light in response. “ **RIGHT BACK AT YOU**.” He said, in his familiar deep voice. That bit of familiarity eased Rhys’ nerves a bit, but only for a moment before Jack decided to speak up again. 

 “You didn’t say it was nice when I first showed it to you. What did you say about it? Ah, right, you called me a psychopath and tried to leave.” Jack laughed. “Good times.” 

 Rhys shot Jack a glare because he had thought they were done with that conversation, but evidently not. Jack cleared his throat and looked away. 

 “Not that I’m still bitter about that or anything.” He mumbled. Rhys sighed and turned his attention away from the giant toddler stuck in his head. They definitely needed to talk some things through soon. But that could wait.

 Rhys instead turned his attention to the group of people behind him. They were all faces he recognized. Vaughn and Timothy first, Fiona was there as well still seemingly upset, and Sasha and Athena had also turned around to face him. Rhys gulped at the familiar faces, slowly approaching them. 

 Sasha had her eyebrows scrunched together in evident anger, and Athena looked as deadly as ever. Rhys avoided her stare as he made his way up to the group, standing awkwardly beside Vaughn. Sasha crossed her arms and glared at him. Something he was a bit too familiar with.

 “You’re an asshole, you know that right?” Sasha questioned as she eyed him. Rhys smiled despite himself. He scratched the back of his neck as he met her stare. 

 “Yeah, your sister made that pretty clear when she punched me.” He admitted as he took in Sasha’s form. She had cut her hair. Rhys thought the longer hair looked better, but he didn't say that out loud. 

 Sasha shot him another glare, though she she didn’t move to punch him. That was a good sign. Instead she sighed and met her sister’s gaze. Athena spoke up next. 

 “ _And_ you’re a dumbass. Why the hell would you let Jack into your head?” 

 So they all knew. Great. Rhys looked down at Vaughn who was avoiding his stare. Rhys sighed and shrugged, fully aware of Jack who was moving from person to person, making obscene gestures through their heads, torsos, and other body parts.

 “I have no idea what I was thinking, to be honest.” Rhys answered honestly. He heard Jack snicker. 

 “And what about when you did it a _second time_ , huh Rhsyie?” Jack was grinning from ear to ear, his hand pushing through Athena’s lips. He moved his hand to make it look like it was talking, and spoke with an awful high pitched voice. 

 Rhys closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath. He opened them again and Thankfully Jack had moved on. Athena’s expression hadn’t changed- she still looked ready to murder Rhys. She stared at him  like that for a moment longer before looking away with an annoyed sigh. 

 Vaughn clapped his hands together and interrupted the awkward silence that had fallen between the group. “Well now that _that_ awkward meet and greet is over, why don’t we talk about our plan to bring Gortys back?” 

 Loader bot and Claptrap had joined the group. Loader bot was carrying Gortys’ lifeless ball, and it sent a pang through Rhys’ chest.

 Timothy spoke up. 

 “So you wanna bring her back?” He gestured to the ball Loader bot was holding. Vaughn nodded. He had filled Timothy in on some of the details on the way. “And she’s gonna wake up the vault monster?” Vaughn nodded again. Timothy furrowed his brows. 

 “I’m not sure if I’m the right person to help with this.” Timothy said finally. Athena shot a glare at Timothy. 

 “Bullshit, Tim. If I have to, then so do you.” She said, her voice harsh, causing Rhys flinch. Timothy didn’t flinch however, instead shook his head. 

 “Athena, it’s been _years_. My vault hunting days are over, I don’t know if I even still have it in me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and Athena tsked. Rhys momentarily wondered why Timothy had never shared the fact that he was a vault hunter at one point.

 “Its a big monster, so _what_. You could fight that in your sleep,” Athena’s stare shifted, from muderous to a softer look. “It’s not going to end up like Jack. It will be different this time.” 

 Rhys stared between the two, along with everyone else in the group. They all stayed silent and watched in confusion while Athena and Timothy recalled a past the others were unfamiliar with. Timothy breathed in after a moment, exhaling slowly and hesitantly nodding his head. 

 “ _Fine_. I’ll help. But this is the last time.” 

 Rhys glanced around the room and noticed that Jack had disappeared at some point. He made a mental note to ask him about Timothy later. 

_“Fu[BEEP] yeah! The gang is getting back together for one last adventure!”_ Claptrap piped up. There was a small chuckle from Sasha and a confused, “Did… he just _beep_?” From Fiona.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gortys makes an entrance. And Rhys is a dumbass.

 The plan was simple enough. 

 Well, as simple as a plan for fighting a teleporting giant monster can be. 

 But aside form _that_ , the main part of the plan was getting Gortys to agree to help. 

 Which is what Rhys was currently dealing with, watching as the rest of the gang drove around trying to distract the Traveler. 

 Gortys was _a lot_ bigger than Rhys remembered. She was crouched down, a digital smile beaming down at him.

  _“Hi Rhys! It’s really good to see you! I missed you!”_ Her childlike voice cut through the air in a much louder volume than Rhys was used to hearing her have. He flinched back slightly at the sound, waving wildly up at her and smiling. 

 “Hey, Gortys! It’s good to see you too,” He glanced worriedly at the vehicle Tim, Athena, and Calptrap were in. Timothy shot at the Traveler’s leg, successfully drawing its attention. Rhys cleared his throat and looked back up at Gortys. “So listen, we kinda need your help-“ 

Gortys’ digital face turned into a frown. She shook her head.  _“As much as I’d love to help you guys, we’re probably all going to die!”_

 Rhys laughed awkwardly, watching as the Traveler stepped forward, almost crushing one of the vehicles. 

 “Any time now, Rhys,” Tim’s voice cut through Rhys’ ECHO. Rhys huffed in annoyance. 

 “I’m trying, okay?” He responded, returning his attention to Gortys. 

“Okay, so, there  _is_ a plan,” Rhys held up his hands, trying to reassure Gortys. She still looked uncertain. “You’re gonna force the Traveler into position so Fiona and Sasha can get inside it and destroy its… teleportation gland,” Rhys paused a moment to let the information sink in before continuing, “then Vaughn will use Helios’ beam to destroy the Traveler. Got it?” 

 Gortys’ response was a curt, _“Nope!”_

 Rhys blinked in disbelief for a moment. “I, uh- what part do you not get?” 

  _“The part where we don’t get our butts kicked like last time,”_ she looked away for a moment, watching the Traveler. _“I thought I was ready back then, but I didn’t stand a chance!”_

 Rhys frowed, his brows furrowing together. 

“C’mon Gortys- you can do this. _We_ can do this. I’m right here with you,” he offered her a small smile. “We _all_ are.”

 Gortys looked at back at the Traveler, watching as the others drove around it, before turning back to Rhys with a smile. 

_“Well, if you say so. But you’ve gotta drive.”_

“Drive? Gortys, no, wait-!” His cries were disregarded as Gortys’ hand enclosed around him, and brought him inside of her. Rhys looked around, blinking in confusion at all of the controls in front of him. 

 “What?” He questioned aloud. Gortys cheerfully answered. 

_“I don’t know how to fight, so you should be in charge. You’ll be great at it, trust me!”_  Her voice was way too happy to be talking about fighting a giant monster, but Rhys ignored that thought. He bit his lower lip and stared down at the controls. He had absolutely no idea what to do. 

 “Uh, Gortys I don’t-” He tried voicing his concerns but Jack instead interrupted. He wasn’t a hologram, however, instead he just spoke inside Rhys’ head. 

 “Well _this_ should be interesting.” Jack commented. Rhys scowled. 

 “And where have you been?” Rhys questioned. 

 “Just in your head. Thinkin’.” Rhys rolled his eyes with a sigh, his hands gripping the controls tightly. 

 “Whatever, that doesn’t matter, just- _help me._ ” Rhys had absolutely no idea what to do. He wasn’t the best at fighting, especially not against _giant vault monsters_. So he really needed help. Even if that help came from Jack. 

 “Hmm, yeah, I’ll help you. Do you trust me, Rhysie?” Jack’s voice rang through Rhys’ head. The question hung in the air for a moment, Rhys contemplating his answer. Did he trust Jack? They’d had three months to rebuild their trust and form some sort of weird relationship, but it was still Jack. 

 He hadn’t given Rhys any reason _not_ to trust him, though. 

“…yeah,” Rhys ultimately responded, a small, tentative smile appearing on his lips. “Yeah, I trust you.”

 He could practically _sense_  Jack’s grin. 

 “Then let _me_ be in control,” Jack’s voice was a soft whisper, a practical _purr_. Rhys ignored the chill that rolled down his spine at Jack’s tone, biting his lip and slowly nodding. 

 “Okay.” He said, closing his eyes and allowing Jack to take over. 

 Rhys could feel Jack- feel him in his veins, his skin- he could feel Jack _everywhere_ , slowly consuming him whole. 

 Rhys wasn’t scared. 

 He wasn’t worried. 

 Because he trusted Jack. 

 With that final thought, Rhys felt his consciousness fade away. 

 

 ~

 

 Jack experimentally wiggled Rhys’ fingers, turning his hands around to admire them. He touched his face, his chest, his arms- and he grinned. He could feel every single part of Rhys, and it felt _amazing_. He reached for the controls, metal hand latching on to a joystick while the other hovered over a giant red button. He was tingling with excitement. 

“It’s showtime, baby!”

  _“It’s great to hear your enthusiasm!”_ Gortys’ chipper voice echoed through the room. 

 “Oh, ‘enthusiastic’ doesn’t even _begin_ to describe how I’m feeling, kiddo,” he responded, moving forward towards the Traveler. 

 

~ 

 

 The fight ended pretty quickly after that. Jack was relentless in his attacks, and it tired the Traveler out. The two girls, Sasha and Fiona as Jack vaguely recalled, were able to get inside the Traveler and successfully blew up its teleportation gland. They both escaped unscathed, much to Jack’s dismay, though it had been a close call. Timothy, Athena, and the annoying Calptrap that refused to die got through the fight as well. Jack had been hoping for a bit of bloodshed, but hey, he wasn’t going to complain after taking down a friggin giant-ass monster. 

“Great job, guys! Feels good to be part of a team.” Jack stumbled out of Gortys and onto the battlefield, meeting up with everyone else. “Man, feels good to be in a body again too. It’s been _way_ too long.” Jack stretched Rhys’ back, earning a satisfying pop. Everyone stared at him in confusion. 

“Rhys what are you-” Sasha began to question but Jack interrupted her. 

 “Not Rhys, honey.” He raised an eyebrow at her, offering her a mischievous grin. “I’m the one who slapped your ass.” 

 She stared at him, her brow furrowed in question, before realization dawned on her face.

 “ _Jack_?” 

Jack clicked his tongue in response and shook his head. “That’s _Handsome_ Jack to you, sweetheart.” 

 In the next moment, there was a click of a gun cocking, then a sword against his neck. Jack choked on his words as Athena pushed him back, her sword pushing dangerously into his- _Rhys_ ’- flesh. 

 “ _Whoa, whoa, whoa_ \- let’s not make any rash decisions here,” Jack spoke up, causing Athena’s glare to harden. Jack glanced behind Athena to see Timothy aiming his gun at him. The sisters watched in shock and confusion, while the Claptrap and Loader bot sat uselessly to the side. Gortys gasped at the scene, but made no move to help. She had returned to her smaller size, and had opted to cling to the Loader bot’s side. 

_Stupid, useless robots_. Jack thought to himself as Vaughn ran to the scene. 

 “What the _hell_ is going on here? Athena let Rhys go-“ 

 “It’s not Rhys, it’s _Jack_.” Athena responded and pushed the blade harder against his throat. Jack grinned as he felt a prickle of blood slide down his neck.

 “Ah, yes, but if you kill _me_ ,” Jack raised his brows, slowly raising his hands and wiggling his fingers, before bringing one hand to point to Rhys’ face. “You kill Rhys.” 

 Athena didn’t respond. She made no move to step away or remove the sword. 

“Athena,” Sasha’s voice broke through the heavy silence that had fallen. Athena’s head twitched to the side to acknowledge her. “Let him go.” 

 Athena stared at Jack, seemingly contemplating her choices. 

 “ _I don’t care_ ,” Athena resonded harshly after a minute. “Rhys was the one dumb enough to stick Jack in his head, if it’s what kills him in the end, then so be it. As long as I can stop Jack.” 

 “Yeah, well _we_ care. Let him go, Athena.” Fiona finally spoke up, moving to reach for Athena’s shoulder. Athena growled in anger, her glare boring into Jack before ultimately shoving him away. Jack backed away as far as he could, wheezing as he wiped away the small bit of blood the sword had drawn. Athena pushed Fiona out of her way, walking away from the group and back towards the base. 

 Jack straightened out Rhys’ dishielved clothes, his gaze falling on Timothy who still held his gun aimed at him. Jack eyed the gun with an arched brow. 

 “C’mon, Timmy. Be a good boy and put the gun away.”

Timothy’s stance faltered a bit. Jack grinned. 

 “I’m not here to cause any trouble, anyway.” Jack let out a small breath of relief when Timothy finally lowered his gun. Jack placed his hands on his hips. “I took over to help fight the Traveler. Rhys is still unconscious and that’s the only reason I’m here. Your precious little Rhysie will be back soon. _I swear_.” Jack moved one hand to mark an “x” over his heart, a grin still on his face. 

 The group seemed hesitant to talk, they simply watched him suspiciously. Timothy was the first to finally speak up.

 “I thought Rhys killed you when he destroyed Helios?” He asked, and Jack chuckled. 

 “ _Hah_ , nope. I was trapped in his eye.” Jack gently tapped Rhys’ left temple where his ECHOeye was, taking pleasure in the look of confusion and anger on Timothy’s face. 

“Well anyway, I should probably get going. I’ll let Rhys deal with all of your questions,” Jack shot finger guns at the group, winking. “Ciao!”

 With that, he released his control on Rhys and let his body fall to the ground.

 

~

 

 When Rhys finally came to, he was back in the Helios room. He slowly blinked his eyes opened and was greeted by a white ceiling. He turned his head, noticing the broken picture frame of the little girl with blue eyes. 

 His mind wandered to the picture of Jack’s daughter. 

Wait. 

_Jack_.

 Rhys suddenly sat up, his head reeling from the action. He looked around the room, noticing that he had been laying on a couch. His memories were a bit blurred but he could recall Gortys telling him to fight. 

 He had let Jack take over. 

 “So when did you plan on telling me?” A familiar voice asked. Rhys’ eyes travelled to the kitchen where Timothy sat on one of the bar stools, his eyes hard and emotionless. He suddenly stood up from the stool, drawing a loud screech as it pushed back on the floor. He slowly began walking towards Rhys. 

 “Or did you plan on hiding him forever?” He laughed bitterly. “Jack’s ego would have never allowed that.” 

 Rhys suddenly felt numb. He wasn’t sure how to answer, or if he was even supposed to answer.

 Timothy stopped in front of the couch, his arms crossed and his stare studying Rhys. There was an undeniable aura of anger surrounding him. 

“What the _hell_ were you thinking?” He asked, and Rhys couldn’t help but flinch back at the sudden outburst. 

 Rhys _knew_ that Timothy would find out eventually. He knew he should have told him. He wasn’t going to be able to hide Jack forever.

 “He tried to _kill you_ , for fuck’s sake! How could you bring him back?” Timothy’s eyes held a fiery rage. Rhys found that he couldn’t meet his stare.

 “I just… I thought I could change him-” Timothy scoffed in disbelief shaking his head. 

 “You can’t _change_ him Rhys. Trust me. I’ve _tried_.” Timothy looked away, his gaze focusing on the wall behind Rhys. His eyes darkened as he seemed to recall memories of his past. 

 “He’s manipulative. He’ll tell you things you want to hear…” Timothy furrowed his brow and glanced at Rhys’ port, then moved down to Rhys’ ECHOeye. Rhys closed his eyes. It felt like Timothy’s stare was burning a hole through him.

“Jack is dangerous. What if he takes over your body again and decides not to give it back?” 

 Rhys opened his mouth to speak. But he quickly shut it, his mouth forming a thin line. Timothy wasn’t wrong. Rhys knew that. Rhys knew the risks when he decided to have his ECHOeye put back in. But Jack was _different_. He had opened up to Rhys- he _trusted_ Rhys. 

 And Rhys trusted Jack.

 Timothy stared at Rhys for a moment longer before sighing and turning around to walk towards the door. Rhys heard the door open and turned his head to see Timothy stopped in the doorway, one hand holding the the doorknob. His gaze was hard as he stared back a Rhys, but there was a bit of pity that flashed in his eyes. 

“ _If_  Jack takes over again, I can’t promise I won’t shoot.” Timothy stared at Rhys for a moment longer before turning away. “I don’t want to hurt you Rhys, but I can’t let him come back. Not if I can stop him.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo, I just wanted you guys to know that even though I don’t respond to every comment, I love and appreciate each one. Same goes for kudos. You guys are awesome and what keep me motivated to write. <3


	13. Chapter 13

 Rhys was left alone in the silence of the room once Timothy left. He wasn’t sure exactly _what_ happened with the Traveler, but now everyone knew. 

 They all knew Jack was back in his head. 

 Rhys wasn’t quite sure he was ready to face them all again. Fiona and Sasha were already mad enough at him, they were probably _furious_ now. And Athena- Rhys made a mental note to stay as far away from her as possible. 

 The way Timothy had looked at Rhys hurt. He had never looked at Rhys like that before. Whatever trust they had once had had crumbled then and there. 

 “You’re looking rough, champ.” Jack appeared in front of Rhys, his face close and his eyes scanning Rhys’ body. 

 Rhys frowned at Jack. 

 “What happened? Were you guys able to defeat the Traveler?” He questioned, he would worry about their reactions later. He needed to know what happened. 

 Jack grinned, his eyes traveling back up Rhys’ body and pausing on his lips for only a moment, before leaning away from Rhys and crossing his arms over his chest. 

 “Hell yeah we defeated it. I was kicking ass out there. You should’ve seen me, muffin, it was great,” Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, his grin changing into an almost admirable smile. “We make a good team, kiddo.” 

 Rhys knitted his eyebrows together, opening his mouth to respond, then shutting it again. 

“But I didn’t do anything,” Rhys finally responded, causing Jack to frown. 

 “Didn’t _do_ anything? Kiddo you did _everything_. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to fight.” Jack’s grin was back on his features and his face was right back in Rhys’ own face. 

 “Don’t you see, Rhsyie? How powerful we are together? What we could do, _together_?” 

 Rhys thought for a moment, considered the possibilities. 

 He shook his head of the thoughts. He’d think about that another time. He still had the vault to worry about. 

 “Did they go in the vault yet?” Rhys asked, watching Jack frown. Jack sighed. 

 “Doubt it. They seemed pretty pissed off at you. Hat girl probably wants to punch you again before entering it,” Jack shrugged and looked away. “You should probably get going though, don’t wanna make ‘em wait any longer.” 

 With that, Jack went away and Rhys stood up from the couch, making his way towards the door. 

 

~

 

 “So is this Rhys or Jack I’m talking to?” Sasha questioned when Rhys walked outside. Timothy and Athena were no where to be seen, Fiona was looking at the vault with her arms crossed, away from everyone else, and Vaughn was standing with Sasha. Vaughn gave Rhys a concerned glance when he approached, but didn’t say anything. 

“ _Haha_ ,” Rhys responded to Sasha’s question. “It’s Rhys. I promise.” 

 Sasha eyed him suspiciously, then she kicked his shin. 

 “Uh,  _Ow_! Sasha, what the _hell_?” Rhys grabbed his wounded shin, balancing on one foot while he shot Sasha a glare. She shrugged. 

 “See, Jack would have killed me for that. Just making sure it’s really you.” 

 Rhys squinted his eyes at her, but he didn’t say anything. He turned his attention to the vault in the distance, his thoughts traveling to what it could hold. 

 Sasha followed his gaze. Her posture stiffened and she audibly sighed. 

“You should probably go talk with Fiona. She was pretty pissed,” Sasha turned back to Rhys, one brow arched and a glare in her eyes. “I mean, I’m pissed at you too, but I’ll properly scold you once we get this vault crap out of the way.” Sasha nudged Vaughn’s shoulder, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during their exchange. Vaughn gave Rhys one last glance, before he looked away and followed after Sasha as they walked away.

 Rhys cringed at Vaughn’s reaction. The last time Vaughn had given him the silent treatment like that had been back in their college days when Rhys went to a a huge Bunkers and Badasses convention without him. Vaughn spent an entire _week_  not talking to him. (But, in Rhys’ defense, he had bought his ticket for it _months_ in advance and they had sold out quickly after that. But that’s beside the point.)

 Rhys really hoped that it wouldn’t be the same as back then. 

 Rhys glanced from the vault to Fiona, slowly making his way to her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she spoke up before he could. 

“Whatever you’re going to say, I don’t wanna hear it.” She pushed a stray hair out of her face, her eyes trained on the vault in front of them. Rhys quickly shut his mouth, his stare moving to the ground.

 “There’s no reasonable excuse for shoving that… _monster_  back into your head,” She glanced at him then, a thoughtful look behind her angry eyes. “The only plausible excuse I could think of is that you’re the biggest dumbass in the universe.” 

 Rhys snorted despite himself. Fiona, however, didn’t laugh or smile. She just kept staring at him with a scrutinizing look in her eyes. Rhys awkwardly cleared his throat and ran his metal hand through his hair. 

 After a moment Fiona finally sighed and moved forward towards the vault. “Don’t think this conversation is over. After we open this vault we’re going to have a _very_ long conversation about your life choices,” she shot him a glance over her shoulder. Rhys nodded and begrudgingly followed after her. 

 The entrance of the vault was _huge_. It was a large arch with a glowing yellow center and it towered above them in an almost intimidating way. Fiona whistled as they approached it. They stopped right outside of it, both simply taking it in. 

 “I bet you didn’t expect to find yourself here. With the vault-“ Fiona glanced at him. “With us.” She wore a frown, and her gaze immediately dropped to the ground when Rhys turned his attention to her. Rhys frowned as well. 

 “No… no I didn’t expect this at all,” Rhys scratched the back of his neck. “But a lot of unexpected things have happened in my life so I’ve learned to cope.” He smiled down at her, and she finally met his gaze. She didn’t smile, but she did gently punch his arm, which was a good sign. It was much more preferred to when she punched him in the face.

 They both stayed silent for a moment, staring up at the vault. Rhys finally cleared his throat and gestured ahead of him. 

“Do you, uh, wanna go first?” 

 Fiona looked up the vault, her gaze slowly traveling back down it, before she shrugged and stepped forward. Rhys watched as her form disappeared in the the yellow glowing center, before he followed. 

 Inside, it looked like a cave, with blue glowing swirls carved into the walls and a blue hue that filled the entirety of the cave. There were floating rocks that seemed to lead up to something glowing purple in the center. Rhys gawked at the sight. 

 “Whoa…” was all he was able to say. 

 “‘ _Whoa_ ’ is right, cupcake.” Jack suddenly spoke up, his blue form appearing next to Rhys. Jack looked around the cave, nodding his head in approval. Fiona had walked ahead, stepping on the first step of the strange floating rock staircase. Rhys followed behind her. 

 “I gotta say, kiddo, I’m proud if you,” Jack commented, floating next to Rhys as he climbed the steps. “My special boy, opening vaults. Brings a tear to the eye.” 

 Rhys stepped over one particularly large gap in the steps, holding a hand out for Fiona to take it. She stared at it hesitantly for a second, before ultimately taking it and accepting his help. He pulled her over to the last step, where they came to a stop in front of the large purple glowing chest. 

 Rhys glanced down at it, then glanced at Fiona who slowly nodded her head at him. With that, Rhys took in a deep breath, and touched the chest at the same time as Fiona.

 A white light suddenly surrounded them, causing Rhys to cover his eyes. In the next minute there was nothingness, just a darkness- then suddenly the room changed. They were in a circular room, rocks with blue and purple glowing markings surrounded them and in the center of the room, there was a relic. It looked similar to the entrance of the vault- except  _much_ smaller- with the arch in the center, and the arch was surrounded by a circle. Rhys recognized the symbol. It had been used in countless advertisements and graffiti on Pandora. The vault symbol. The relic floated by itself, no statues or chests around it- just the relic.

Rhys carefully approached the relic, his hand reaching out for it as he got closer to it. Jack watched him carefully. 

 “I’d be careful with that, kiddo.” He said, glancing around the vault. “This place is giving me the creeps. It’s a bit _too_ familiar.

 Rhys ignored Jack, something he was all too familiar with doing, and continued reaching out for the relic. Fiona was quiet, watching him with uncertainty. 

 When he finally touched the relic, it floated towards him, forming a throne of rocks behind him. Jack scoffed in disbelief behind Rhys. 

 “You have _got_ to be shitting me.” He said, blinking over to Rhys’ side. Rhys barely had any time to register Jack’s appearance when visions began swimming in his head. So much information- almost too much- began pouring into Rhys’ brain. 

 He saw the _future_. 

 He saw _his_ future. 

 So much death. So much agony. But… there was an undeniable feeling of satisfaction. A feeling of gratitude from others. 

 There were no more bandits. No more bad guys. He could be a _hero_.

 Rhys’ visions moved to a lab. It looked like a Hyperion lab. There was a… container?

 The vision changed to _Jack_. 

 But not Hologram Jack- Jack with a _body_. 

 Jack in the vision reached out to Rhys, holding his face with a gentleness that Rhys didn’t know Jack even possessed. That Jack held Rhys’ chin, his eyes showing an admiration Rhys had never seen before. Rhys could _feel_ Jack’s touch through the vision and it sent a chill through his body. Jack in the vision said something, he couldn’t make it out. Jack leaned in close, and Rhys could feel his face heating up. 

 Then the vision came to an abrupt stop when Fiona began pulling Rhys away. 

Rhys blinked in surprise. _What was that?_  

And _why_ was Fiona pulling him away? 

 “What are you doing? I wasn’t done-“

“Rhys the vault is _collapsing_ we have to go!” 

 Rhys took a moment to look around at the sudden debris falling down. A rock fell by his foot and he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

 He needed to see more. 

 “Let me go, Fi!” He tried pulling away, reaching out for the relic, but she continued pulling him back. 

 “Rhys you’ll get _crushed_! We have to _get out_!” The vault began shaking, more debris fell in bigger chunks. 

 “I have to agree with hat girl on this one, pumpkin. I can’t have your pretty head getting crushed.” Jack was floating on his back beside Rhys, his hands folded behind his head and one leg propped on the other. He didn’t seem at all concerned. A small rock fell right through Jack’s chest, causing him to make a rather disgusted face. “Can’t you see I’m _floating_ here, find somewhere else to fall.”

Rhys blocked Jack out for the moment- he would be talking with him about _things_ later- but all Rhys wanted at that moment was the relic. He _needed_ to see more. 

 “ _Let me **go**_ -” There was a sudden violent jerk from the vault, causing Fiona and Rhys to pull apart. Fiona fell backwards, barely avoiding a large rock to the head, rolling away from it right as it landed. Rhys, however, stumbled forward, landing on top of the relic. He felt it shatter beneath him, but not before a searing pain shot through his chest. 

 “ _AAHHHHHHG_!” Rhys shouted, his vision blurring from the pain. Rhys felt a burning sensation on his shoulder, spreading into the nerves connected to his metal arm. The pain was _unbearable_. 

 “ _Oooh_ boy,” Jack commented as he watched Rhys’ metal arm spark from the impact. Rhys laid still on the ground, his chest heaving for a moment before it slowed down to more shallow breaths. Jack ran up to Rhys’ body, looking at it up and down helplessly. 

 “Rhysie, cupcake, _darling_ , if you can hear me, then I need you to get the _fuck up right now_.” Rhys laid motionless and unresponsive. Jack cursed to himself and looked up at Fiona who stared at Rhys in evident shock. 

 “Well are ya gonna help him, sweetheart, or are ya just gonna sit there all day?” Jack asked with an arched brow, knowing he wasn’t going to receive an answer. He sighed and waited another minute for her to move. It took another violent jerk from the vault before Fiona snapped out of her trance and scrambled up to help Rhys. 

 Jack watched as Fiona lifted Rhys up, wrapping his left arm- his _good_  arm- around her shoulders. His metal arm hung uselessly from his shoulder, sparks flying off of it in every direction. Fiona carried him off as the vault’s shaking started getting worse. 

 “Wow, _my hero_ -” Jack started, doing his best impression of a damsel, but was rudely interrupted by a large rock falling through him. It startled him, causing him to jump. “ _Ah- Fuck_! I’m outta here.” With that, he blinked away, leaving to vault to fall in on itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative titles for this fic: 
> 
> 1)How Many Times Can Rhys Pass Out or Get Knocked Unconscious Before He Dies
> 
> Or
> 
> 2) Rhys in a Series of Very Unfortunate Events


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my mini hiatus on this fic! I went on vacation and then suddenly got inspired for another fic so I’ve been busy. Check it out if you’d like, it’s called Behind the Scenes and it’s a high school Rhack au! :)

  Rhys woke up with a gasp, his chest heaving up and down with gasped breaths as he looked around the room he was in. 

 He was in a medbay. 

 Specifically Helios’ medbay. His blurred vision could make out some of the room- the chipped paint and cracked walls. 

 It only took Rhys a minute to notice he was missing his right arm, once again. His shoulder had a dull ache, and a sharp pain shot through his chest when he tried to sit up. 

“Whoa there, pumpkin. Take it easy.” 

 Rhys’ gaze found Jack next to his bed, his arms crossed over his chest and a small grin on his features. 

 “You feelin’ alright?” He asked, a concerned tone in his voice that Rhys had never heard Jack use. Rhys blinked a moment, then nodded. Jack’s grin changed to a more sincere smile, and his form visibly relaxed. 

 “That’s good. Do you remember anything that happened?” 

 Rhys thought back, his memories filling with the vault. Oh yes, he remembered _everything_. Well, he remembered everything in the visions. After that it was blurry. 

 “I remember… going in the vault. Touching the relic…” Rhys hesitantly met Jack’s stare. “I saw… things. I saw my _future_ … after that I don’t remember what happened.”

 Jack watched Rhys as he spoke, his eyes never leaving him. He nodded when Rhys told him what he saw. 

 “Huh. I saw the future the first time I went into a vault, too,” He moved closer to Rhys, his eyes falling on Rhys’ chest which was bare and bandaged. “Yeah, so you fell on top of the relic and crushed it beneath you, but hey, you get a scar to remember how much of a clumsy dumbass you are.” 

 Rhys furrowed his brow. 

“What about the vault?” He questioned, his hand moving unconsciously to the bandages on the right side of his chest and touching it. He hissed as pain seared through his chest at the action and immediately pulled his hand away. Jack clicked his tongue.

“Demolished. Caved in on itself.” 

 Rhys frowned at that. What could have caused it to just cave in on itself? It didn’t make any sense. 

 And as much as Rhys wanted to think about that- wanted to think about anything other than the hologram that was currently staring down at him in concern- he couldn’t. 

 His mind kept replaying the vision of Jack looking at him- of Jack’s _touch_. It had felt so real. Rhys hesitantly brought his hand up to the cheek that Jack had touched in the vision. He placed his hand there, trying to find any familiarity in the touch. Any traces of _Jack_. 

 But it wasn’t the same. Rhys licked his suddenly very dry lips, staring at the wall in front of him in thought. 

 “I… I saw you in there.” Rhys began, his voice quiet. Jack chuckled beside him. 

 “Well, _duh_. I’m in your head, dum-dum. Of course you saw me in there.” Jack had arched a brow, his pixelated face staring at Rhys with amused concern. 

 “No- I mean in the vision. In my future.” Rhys tried again. He refused to met Jack’s stare. 

 Jack blinked and opened his mouth to say something but Rhys quickly spoke up. 

 “You had a body,” Rhys said, his voice barely above a whisper. He wasn’t sure if Jack had heard him. There was a moment of silence that passed between them. Rhys slowly and uncertainly met Jack’s gaze and found him with his eyes wide and mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure what. Jack blinked and huffed a laugh of disbelief. 

 “Well _shit_ ,” Jack finally responded, shaking his head and smilling down at Rhys. “Did you see how I _get_ the body? Because that would be pretty some damn useful information right about now.” 

 Rhys was about to respond when a click for the door interrupted. Jack and Rhys’ heads turned in sync to the door, watching as it slowly opened. Jack sighed in disappointment. 

“Fan-fucking-tastic timing. Just wonderful,” Jack turned to meet Rhys’ gaze once more. “Well, cupcake, we are _definitely_ continuing this conversation later.” Then he disappeared. 

 The door opened to reveal Vaughn. He wore a concerned frown, but his eyebrows were drawn together in uncertainty. He hesitantly approached Rhys’ bed and cleared his throat. 

 “Hey, man.” He said as he pulled up the chair in the side of the room and sat in it. “Are you, uh, feeling okay?” 

 There was something _off_  with Vaughn. He seemed uncomfortable. Like something about Rhys _scared_ him. Rhys didn’t like that at all. 

 He smiled, nonetheless, in response to Vaughn’s question. 

“I guess. I’m missing an arm and my chest burns but other than that I’m _great_.” Rhys said with a playful smile, hoping to lighten the mood of _whatever_ tension was between them. Vaughn seemed to try to smile, but it seemed forced. It just wasn’t right. Rhys frowned.

“Yeah, about your arm…” Vaugh begin, and Rhys felt his mood deflat. Vaughn continued, “The wires and circuits in it were completely fried with in impact. We… have no idea _how_ that happened, but the arm is useless now.” 

 Rhys leaned his head back on his pillows with a sigh. Of course. It made sense that would happen with how shitty his life had been recently. Rhys absentmindedly reached up to touch his bandages again, hissing again at the pain of the contact, but he didn’t move his hand away. 

 “So the relic left a scar _and_  destroyed my arm?” Rhys furrowed his brow and his frowned deepened. “ _How_?” 

Vaughn fidgeted with his hands, adjusting his glasses after a moment. “We’re not sure. It’s like it _burned_ you, but none of us are certain how it works. Vault stuff is weird, dude.” 

 Rhys hummed in agreement. He couldn’t say he was excited about having a scar, but he was interested in it. But he _especially_ wasn’t excited about being armless again- at least until he got a new one. 

“So when can I get a new arm? Do you guys have the materials for that?” Rhys inquired as he sat back up. He tried to ignore the pain that shot through his torso at the action. Vaughn awkwardly cleared his throat. 

“Well… we _do_ , but…” Vaughn trailed off, and Rhys gave him a look that translated to “ _go on_.” 

“We talked about it, and we all agreed that we should… wait a while, before giving you a new arm. Kind of like a trial,” Vaughn searched Rhys’ face for a reaction, but Rhys gave none. He instead suddenly felt numb- he wasn’t sure _how_ to react to that. His only friends were forsaking him to a life without an arm that he relied heavily on. Ever since he had woken up after the vault monster, he had felt like he had been stabbed with betrayal- they had all _immediately_ turned against him. That knife suddenly felt like it was being twisted in his gut, pushing that sting of betrayal to the edge and deepening the pain. 

 Rhys shook his head at Vaughn. 

“Wha- what do you mean? _Why_?” 

 Vaughn furrowed his own brow, a look of disbelief crossing his features. 

“‘ _Why_ ’? Because that arm is a direct link to Jack! He has free control of it, what if he just decides to take it over and strangle you- or strangle someone _else_ ,” Vaughn’s tone calmed down, his voice lowering. “I get it, you’re blinded by this weird admiration for him but, Rhys, Jack is _bad_. Whatever weird crush you have on him-“ 

“I _don’t_ have a crush on him!” Rhys shouted, suddenly angry. Vaughn stared at Rhys for a moment, blinking in surprise. 

 “Oh? Then what about an  _obsession_? Because that’s what it is, Rhys.” Vaughn’s voice was harsh, and his posture seemed to visibly tense. “Do you know what you said when Fiona dragged you inside the base, half conscious and your metal arm hanging uselessly at your side?” Vaughn asked. Rhys stayed silent. 

 “‘ _Jack_ ’,” Vaughn shook his head, his stare had moved to the ground. “You repeated his name, over and over again, Rhys. You’re _obsessed_ , whether you realize it or not.”

 Rhys didn’t respond. He remained silent, letting Vaughn’s words sink in. Why hadn’t Jack mentioned that? Rhys felt his face flush, and he took in a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. 

 They stayed like that for a while, sitting in an awkward silence, neither knowing exactly what to say. Finally Vaughn sighed and stood up from the chair, leaving the room without another word. 

 And Rhys was left alone with his thoughts. 

 

~

 

 “It looks… weird.” Rhys commented as he looked at his reflection, taking in his new scar. 

 He had stayed in the medbay for a while, no one had really visited him after Vaughn. Gortys and Loader boat had visited, Gortys gave him a very colorful drawing with the words “Get well soon” scribbled on top of it. Loader bot hadn’t said much, and they left after that. 

 Rhys wasn’t going lie, having no one visit him hurt like a bitch. He wasn’t sure why he had expected them to visit, he had already broken any trace of trust he had with them when he let Jack take over. But _still_ , he was in the _hospital_ , for fuck’s sake. They could show a little concern. 

 Rhys blinked at his reflection, turning his body to the side to get a better view of the scar. 

 “Well, look at it this way, babe, now we match.” Jack was leaning against the wall beside the mirror, his arms crossed and a small smirk on his lips. Rhys raised an eyebrow at him in question. 

 “What do you mean we ‘match’?”

 Jack shrugged, his eyes staring down at Rhys’ scar. He seemed uncharacteristically calm. He wasn’t making fun of Rhys as often as he usually did and his comments were pretty tame. It made Rhys only _mildly_ uncomfortable. He wished he knew what was going on inside Jack’s head. 

 “What’d you think was under my mask? Acne?” Jack chuckled. “Nah, I’ve got the same mark on my face.” 

 Rhys was surprised by that information. He had been curious what was under the mask, but he didn’t want to ask and make him angry. And it wasn’t like Jack could show him. Rhys hummed in thought as he traced his left hand lightly across the mark. It still hurt to touch, but he was so intrigued by it. Jack watched his fingers intently. 

“I could show you, if I had a _body_ ,” Jack commented, and Rhys sighed. So _that’s_ what was on Jack’s mind. Rhys brought his hand away from the mark, picking up the shirt he had disregarded on the floor. The blue shirt Timothy had let him borrow all those months ago had a giant hole where the relic had burned through, so Rhys was stuck with a white button up shirt that had been found in one of the surviving closets on the apartments. Vaughn had been kind enough to give Rhys the surviving ties of his old collection, so Rhys had decided to wear his Hyperion yellow tie, if only to make himself feel a little more at home. He still wore the ripped up dark gray pants Timothy gave him, but during he months in searching for The Children fo Helios, Rhys had upgraded his shoes to a brown pair of tall boots that actually _fit_ him. He had stole them off of one of the bandits Timothy had knocked unconscious. Rhys frowned at the memory. 

 Rhys only struggled a bit with buttoning the shirt, and he was able to tie the tie with one hand after years of practice. (When he had first gotten the arm he had been too afraid to tie his ties with it- scared he would accidentally rip them.) Once he took in his reflection and deemed himself presentable, he turned his attention back to Jack. 

“The only hint the visions offered me was a lab- it looked like it could have been an R&D lab on Helios but I’m not sure,” Rhys scrunched his nose up in thought. “I don’t think Vaughn would be any help, he seems… upset with me, so we can’t ask him. We’ll just have to look around the base and see if maybe a lab survived.” Rhys shrugged and met Jack’s gaze. He was staring intently at Rhys- something he had been doing _a lot_ since Rhys had woke up in the medbay. Rhys fidgeted uncomfortably under his stare. Jack grinned after a moment, but it was different from his normal grins- it seemed almost… caring? Rhys quickly shoved _that_ thought away. There was no way Jack cared about him- no, it was just Rhys’ mind messing with him. 

“Sounds like a plan, muffin. Gotta start somewhere,” Jack eyed Rhys for a moment longer than necessary, then he blinked away. 

 Rhys found himself thinking about Jack’s smile, and how it reminded him of the one he saw in the visions of his future. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So good and bad news about this fic: we’re approaching the end! 
> 
> I just wanna thank everyone who’s read this and everyone who took the time to comment or leave kudos. You guys are what kept me motivated and I don’t think I could have made it this far without y’all. So thank you guys so much ❤️


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. This is the last chapter. This is so surreal finally posting this. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy :’) ❤️

 Trying to search the base wasn’t as easy as Rhys had thought it would be. It seemed Rhys was never alone- there was always someone with him, always someone _there_. And the remains of Helios were like a maze. It was difficult to find your way around it when you _knew_ where you were going. 

He also didn’t have a new arm yet, so he was still bitter over that. 

 Rhys was roaming a lower part of the base, Claptrap rolling right at his feet. He was rambling about something- Rhys wasn’t sure what. He hadn’t been paying attention to him. 

 Jack flickered to life next to Rhys, his own annoyed expression on his face. 

“Does this thing ever _shut up_?” He growled in annoyance as Claptrap happily continued talking. “See, this is why I had them all destroyed. The universe is so much better without them.” 

 Rhys hummed in agreement, his eyes glancing around the area. Rhys had found a few labs that had survived- but they were labs that had originally been located higher up on Helios. Labs more well known and used for the public. Rhys didn’t think they would hold what he- well, what _Jack_ - was looking for.

 Rhys continued mindlessly walking, his eyes looking for any clue to a lab. He hadn’t been paying attention, stepping up the stairs that they had walked to. Claptrap made a devastated noise behind him, pulling Rhys from his thoughts and prompting him to finally acknowledge the yellow bot. 

“ _Stairs?! I can’t go up stairs!_ ” 

 Claptrap sounded absolutely distraught, and Rhys had to fight to grin that was threatening at the corners of his mouth. 

“Oh? That’s too bad then,” Rhys responded with a shrug and turned to continue on. Claptrap beeped in surprise.

“ _Wait! You can’t go up there!_ ” He called out, his wheel bumping uselessly against the first step. Rhys grinned. 

“Why not? I _want_ to, so I’m going to.” 

 Claptrap made a series of beeps, sounding frustrated. Rhys continued up the steps, leaving Claptrap behind him while Jack snickered next to him. 

 Rhys and Jack continued through the twisting and dark halls. They seemed to have found an area that seemed untouched by the Children. It lacked in any living supplies or graffiti that was everywhere else. Not too long later, they came across something that seemed useful. Rhys had made sure he hadn’t been followed- he was sure Claptrap had immediately gone back to the elevator and told everyone else that Rhys had gone off on his own. But he didn’t see anyone around- no one calling out for him either. 

 He had probably lost them in the maze that was the base. Rhys smiled to himself and walked towards the large doors of the lab that was surrounded by large glass windows, the glass shattered and cracked. He made sure he carefully stepped over the shards of glass as he neared the door. He pushed the heavy doors open with a grunt, the action relatively difficult with only one arm. When they opened he walked through into the lab and let them close behind him with a loud _bang_. He admired the lab around him- the large walls that were no doubtably clean and pristine at one point, but were now stained and dirty- plantlife that seemed to be from forgotten experiments grew on the walls- the floor was cracked and covered in dust. Lab equipment scattered about, some things shattered and broken while other equipment were still in perfect shape. There were tables knocked over, and mysterious boxes and containers scattered against the walls. Rhys scanned all of them- but only one stood out. 

 Against the back wall, secluded from the others, was a container that Rhys recognized from the visions. He stared at it with wide eyes, his breathing pausing for only a moment. 

 He slowly began approaching it, ignoring the glass that crunched beneath his feet. When he reached the container, all he could was stare in awe. That was it- that was the container that held _Handsome Jack’s body._

 Rhys stared through the small circlular glass on the box, he was met with the face of an almost peaceful looking Jack. It was slightly off putting to see the dead body of your once boss just being held in a box- but what threw Rhys off the most was that he _didn’t have the mask on_. 

 And Jack had been right. Their scars _did_ match. 

 Jack’s scar was blue, just like Rhys’, but was going through his left eye- his _green_ eye, as Rhys recalled- and arched across the bridge of his nose, then narrowly missed the other eye. However, unlike Rhys’, Jack’s scar lacked the circle surrounding the arch. Jack’s face was pale from where he had worn the mask for so long- it almost looked like a mask itself, compared to the rest of Jack’s tan skin. 

 Rhys had been so engrossed  by Jack’s body that he hadn’t noticed Jack’s hologram come up behind him. 

“Now _that’s_ fuckin’ creepy,” Jack suddenly spoke from above Rhys’ shoulder, causing him to jump. Rhys blinked at the hologram, then looked back at the body, nodding slowly in agreement. He wasn’t sure how they had done it, but it seemed that the Hyperion scientists had somehow _preserved_ Jack’s body. A quick scan with his ECHOeye told Rhys that the body was perfectly fine- good vitals, perfectly livable. 

 But it was just a shell. 

 It lacked any consciousness. 

 Rhys scanned the container with his eye, taking in all the details. It was passcode protected, but Rhys could easily hack that. The box itself seemed to be what was actually keeping Jack’s body alive. 

 Which begged the question- would putting Jack in that body even _work_? Could the body actually live outside of the container?

 Rhys wasn’t sure, but if the anxious look in Jack’s eyes said anything, it was that Jack didn’t care. Jack wanted a body, and he didn’t care about the _what-ifs_. 

 Rhys sighed and looked at the container a bit more- there was a drive hanging from the side of it, one that would easily fit into Rhys’ port. 

 Jack apparently was getting impatient.

 “Well what’re ya waiting on, kiddo? Let’s crack this baby open!” 

 Rhys hesitated for a moment. He remembered what Timothy had told him. He remembered his own doubts about Jack. 

 But in the future Rhys saw, Jack was _different_. It was only flashes, but that Jack was gentle. Rhys could feel Jack’s admiratioin for Rhys practically pouring off of him in the visions. 

 And Rhys would be lying if he said he didn’t want to finally see Jack with an actual body.

So, with a nervous inhale, Rhys scanned the box more in depth, numbers and codes filling his vision. He began his hacking. 

 It took a bit longer to hack it thank usual, since he didn’t have his arm to help him, so he had to hack it manually by basically typing and clicking with his brain- it was a really weird feeling, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to describe it. But once he had finally been able to hack into the container and bypassed the security measures, it opened with a hiss, smoke pouring out into dark the lab and surrounding Rhys. 

 Rhys stood still for a moment, taking it in. Seeing Jack’s face through the glass had been weird- but seeing his whole _body_ , bloodied clothes and all- was downright creepy. Rhys felt his stomach flip as he slowly reached out for the container, his hand hesitantly reaching for the drive. Jack stood by him, a grin on his face as he watched Rhys with an excitement Rhys had never seen Jack have. 

Rhys breathed in, closed his eyes, and jammed the drive into his port with an exhale. He saw a fleeting image of Jack before he disappeared. The container beeped a few times, lights flashing on and off. 

  _Upload file: Jack.AI? Y/N_

 The confirmation appeared on his ECHOeye, flooding his vision. Rhys read over the words a few times, his heart hammering in his chest. 

 It was happening. 

 Rhys chose the ‘ _yes_ ’ option and the confirmation disappeared. He stared at the machine, watching as the lights flashed with more intensity than before. There were a few more beeps, a bit more sporadic flashing, then everything stopped. 

 Rhys didn’t even dare to breath as waited to see what would happen. 

 A moment of silence passed. Nothing. Rhys slowly pulled the drive out of his port, his hand shaking as he did so. The anticipation was nearly unbearable. Rhys unconsciously began backing away from the container with slow but steady steps. 

 Then, Jack’s scarred face opened his eyes- one light blue eye and one milky white one blinking to life. He took a sudden gasp for breath as he leaned forward, the jerking action causing wires to be pulled from Jack’s head and neck, hanging loosely behind him. Jack took a few more gasping breaths of air, a grin slowly spreading on his face. He reached to pull out the other wires down his arms and body, yanking them off of him and prying himself away from the machine. 

Jack stood in front of the machine, the remaining smoke from the container formed around Jack and made him look almost godlike. Rhys was at a loss for words. 

 Holographic Jack had been one thing. But suddenly Jack had a _body_. He was _real_. 

 And Rhys felt a wave of terror and… _excitement_ wash over him. 

 Jack took a moment to look at his hands, then his body, then his feet. His hands found themselves running through his hair, and down his face, his hands only pausing momentarily on the scar. His grin never faltered. 

Then his eyes landed on Rhys. 

 And Rhys felt like fainting. 

 Jack’s grin grew, if that was even possible, flashing his new teeth as he slowly began approaching Rhys. 

 “Honey,” He began, swinging out his arms in a grand gesture. His voice was suddenly so much louder than before. It echoed through the room, bouncing off of the walls and closing in on Rhys like a cage. “I’m home!” 

 Rhys suddenly couldn’t move. He felt like his feet were glued to the floor. His mouth felt dry and he couldn’t seem to get anything out. Jack seemed to find the reaction hilarious. 

 “What’s wrong, cupcake? Cat got your tongue?” He continued approaching Rhys, who had apparently backed up quite a ways. Jack had made it in front of him and Rhys stared, slack jawed, at Jack. 

 Jack placed his hands in Rhys’ hair, admiring it and running strands between his fingers. This made Rhys release a small sigh of relief. His hands moved down Rhys’ face, admiring and taking in every feature, before they moved further. Jack’s hands slowly traveled down his chest, before finally resting on Rhys’ hips, gripping his hips tightly. Rhys’ breath caught in his throat at the contact. Jack was suddenly pulling Rhys closer to him, pulling their bodies flush together. He leaned in by Rhys’ ear, his hot breath tickling Rhys’ neck. Rhys shivered at the feeling. 

“Do you know,” His hands slowly and deliberately moved under Rhys’ shirt, traveling back up his chest. “How long I’ve waited to do this?” Jack’s hands left a burning sensation where they touched. One hand stopped on Rhys’ scar, tracing it with a calloused finger, the action made Rhys hiss in pain. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. It hurt, but still felt so _damn_ good. Rhys suddenly realized how touched starved he was. It had been a while since anyonehad touched him like _that_. And _maybe_ the person doing it had something to do with it. But Rhys was too lost in the sensation of Jack’s hands and the warmth from Jack’s body to think properly. Jack nipped down on Rhys’ ear, causing Rhys to whimper.

 Rhys’ mind was scattered and he couldn’t get his thoughts together. He wasn’t sure what was happening. 

 Rhys didn’t have long to wonder, however, when the doors to the lab suddenly slammed open and Timothy barged in. Jack looked away from Rhys in annoyance. Jack’s hands slowly trailed back down Rhys’ chest, resting on his hips for a moment more before he pulled away with a sigh. The sudden lack of warmth made Rhys release a disappointed noise, almost a whine. 

 “Rhys what the _fuck_ have you done?” Timothy asked, his eyes zeroing in on Jack. His stare was filled with rage, but his voice had a slight tremor to it.

 Rhys eyed Timothy in confusion, his mind felt like mush.

“How did you find me?” Rhys had made certain he wasn’t being followed. And the lab was hidden through so many twists and turns- they hadn’t known about it. 

Timothy finally looked over at Rhys, his stare hard and lacking any trace of familiarity it had before. 

“Claptrap came back to us and told us you had wandered off so Vaughn gave me access to the security cameras to try and find you. I saw you walk around one corner, but the camera feed was cut off in the next room,” Timothy’s eye twitched and his brows furrowed as he gestured to the lab surrounding them. “I decided to come investigate myself.” 

Rhys let Timothy’s words sink in, his stomach churning with a familiar sting of betrayal. Vaughn told Timothy to _spy_ on him. That particular fact hurt Rhys more than anything- He stared at the ground, his brows furrowing. 

 Jack chuckled in front of him.

 “What did I tell ya, Rhysie. They always betray you in the end.” 

 Timothy jerked his head back to Jack, his face red with anger. Before Rhys could even comprehend what was happening, Timothy had pulled out his gun and aimed it at Jack. There was a determined look in his eyes that Rhys had never seen before. 

 Jack suddenly pulled out a gun, quickly cocking it. It was a gun that Rhys recognized all too well. It was the pistol Timothy had given him.

 At some point Jack had taken Rhys’ pistol without Rhys even _realizing_. Rhys cursed to himself as he pat his pants, already knowing the pistol was gone and in Jack’s grip. He remembered Jack’s lingering touch on his hips and frowned. Jack held the pistol up, then shot Timothy’s hand with frightening accuracy, successfully knocking the gun from his grip and onto the ground. Timothy cried out in pain, holding his wounded hand to his chest while glaring daggers at Jack. Blood stained Timothy’s hand that held the wounded one, dripping onto the ground and onto his clothing. Rhys looked away, his chest clenching. 

 It wasn’t supposed to be like that. 

  _Jack_ wasnt supposed to act like that.

 In the future Rhys saw, Jack was gentle. He had touched Rhys’ cheek and held his chin with a gentleness as if he were afraid he would break him. 

 Rhys was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when Jack touched his cheek. Rhys froze at the feeling. 

_Oh no._

Jack moved his hand down to Rhys’ chin and gently turned his head to face him. All too similar to the future Rhys had seen. There was a fire in Jack’s eyes, a possessiveness. Rhys felt a chill run down his spine. 

 “You and me, baby,” Jack spoke, his breath ghosting over Rhys’ lips. “We’re going to be fucking  _kings_.” 

 Rhys was frozen, his mind racing. Was this how it was supposed to be? Was this all supposed to happen? Rhys wasn’t sure, but all he knew was that he enjoyed Jack’s touch, and that Jack’s words sent a warmth through Rhys’ body and straight down to his core. Suddenly the concerns Rhys had before were gone, replaced with the thought of Jack’s reassuring smile.

 Jack was suddenly pulling away, his hand latching onto Rhys’ own hand, and pulling him with him. Jack led him to Timothy, stopping right in front of the kneeling man. Jack grinned down at him, a manic grin that would have unnerved anyone. Timothy frowned, his breathing ragged and sharp. 

“If you were trying to kill me,” Timothy sucked in a shaky breath. “Then you missed.” 

 Jack’s grin faltered, but only for a second. He laughed, kneeling down in front of Timothy and grabbing his jaw forcefully. 

“Ah, you should know me by now, Timmy,” Jack squeezed Timothy’s jaw tightly, making Timothy wince in pain. “ _I don’t miss.”_

 Jack stood up, releasing his hold on Timothy with a sneer. He turned away from the man, and grinned at Rhys.

 “See, _I’m_ not going to kill you,” Jack pulled out the pistol, staring down at it in a thoughtful manner, his fingers lightly tracing the edges of it. After a moment his head shot back up to Rhys, a dark look in is eyes. “Rhys is.”

 Jack held out the pistol to Rhys, waiting for him to take it. Rhys blinked at the pistol, then looked up at Jack, his eyes wide with confusion. Jack sighed. 

 “You look like a skag caught in headlights. Do I need to make it more clear for you, muffin?” Jack grabbed Rhys’ hand forcefully and pushed the pistol into his grip, positioning Rhys to stand in front of Timothy. 

Rhys held the barrel of the pistol against Timothy’s forehead, his hand held a slight tremor. Timothy did nothing. He stayed still, watching Rhys with a hard glare. Jack had moved away, watching from beside Rhys and practically bouncing in anticipation. 

 “Pull the trigger, pumpkin,” Rhys hesitated, his breaths coming out shaky and his heart hammering against his chest. Jack noticed Rhys’ hesitation and frowned. “ _Do it._ ” Jack practically growled. Rhys flinched, but still didn’t shoot. 

 Jack audibly sighed, making his annoyance known. He took in a few breaths, seemingly in an attempt to calm himself. He was silent for a moment, then Rhys felt Jack wrap his arms around his middle, Jack’s chin moving to rest on his shoulder. Rhys tensed, his heart beating hard against his chest. 

 “C’mon, sweetheart. He’s a bad man. He tried to _kill_ me,” Jack’s voice was soft, a quiet whisper that ghosted across Rhys’ neck. “This has to be done, and you know it.” 

 Rhys’ eyes traced Timothy’s face. His thoughts wondering to all the things Timothy had done for him- but Jack’s words were so inviting. His touch and his voice filled Rhys with a sense of ecstasy that made him think _maybe_ Jack was right. 

 Timothy spoke up from under Rhys’ aim. 

 “If you pull the trigger,” Timothy’s voice wavered. “You’re no better than _him_.” 

Rhys held his breath, his finger pressing slightly harder down on the trigger. He felt his scar flair up, a sting of burning pain shooting through his chest- a reminder of just how much he already was like Jack. 

 “I know.” Rhys whispered. He felt Jack move his lips against his neck, pressing a soft kiss on the visible skin. 

“Pull the trigger, baby.” Jack said into Rhys’ neck, his teeth lightly grazing the skin. Rhys released a shaky breath, his eyes closing and his head turning away. He tried to feel upset, tried to feel angry- tried to feel _something_ \- but he just felt numb. His whole body felt numb as he tightened his grip on the gun. 

 And he pulled the trigger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. So. Before you guys freak out on me, I’ve had this ending in mind for a while. I love the idea of dark Rhys so I wanted to try and write my own version of him turning into that. 
> 
> But thank you guys so much for reading this fic. It means so much to me that people actually took the time to read this, and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


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